COLL. CHRISTI RC6IS
\ BIB, MAJ.
TO««WiTON
W^s- *
MEMENTOES OF
THE ENGLISH MARTYRS
AND CONFESSORS
il obstat
GULIELMUS CANONICUS GILDEA, D.D.
Censor Dcputatus
Imprimatur
EDMUNDUS CANONICUS SURMONT
Vicarius Generalis
WESTMONASTERII
die 17 Martii 1910
"SALVETE FLORES MARTYRUM"
St, Philifi blessing the future martyrs
MEMENTOES OF
THE ENGLISH MARTYRS
AND CONFESSORS
EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR
e
1910
BY
HENRY SEBASTIAN BOWDEN
OF THE ORATORY
"Mementote praepositorum vestrorum, qui vobis locuti
sunt vcrbum Dei : quorum intuentes exitum conversatioiiis,
iniitamini fidem." — HEB. xiii. 7.
COLLCNmSTIREGIS
v BIB. MAJ.
BURNS & GATES
28 ORCHARD STREET
LONDON, W.
1910
900 7
•
PREFACE
As a daily remembrance of our forefathers in
the faith, these selections have been made from
the records of their lives and times, and also
from their writings. While the fullest and most
important biographies are naturally predomi-
nant/the list is, it is hoped, fairly representative.
In these pages are included not only those whom
the Church has declared to be "Venerable" or
"Blessed," but also various others of either sex,
conspicuous as witnesses to the faith, or for their
zeal in its behalf. Such characteristic incidents
have also been added as may fill up the por
traiture of the period.
The claims of the martyrs on our devotion
need hardly be expressed. If the Apostle of
every country is specially venerated as the
means by which the faith was first received,
what honour is due to this goodly company of
our own race and speech which at so great a
cost preserved the faith for us ? Its members are
our patrons, then, by the double tie of nature
and grace. "Look," says the Prophet, "to the
rock whence you are hewn, to the hole of the
pit whence you were dug out." And our fore-
PREFACE
fathers in the faith are indeed "exceedingly
honourable." Fisher, the " Saintly Cardinal " ;
More, the illustrious Chancellor ; Campion, the
"golden-mouthed" ; Southwell, the priest poet;
Margaret Pole, the last of the Plantagenets ;
Margaret Clitheroe, in the "winepress alone" ;
Ralph Milner, the sturdy yeoman ; Philip
Howard, the victim of Herodias ; Swithin Wells,
a " hunter before the Lord " ; Horner, the tailor,,
with his vestments of salvation ; Mason, the
serving-man ; Plunket, last in time, not least in
dignity or holiness. All these high or humble,
with the sons of SS. Augustine, Benedict,
Bridget, Bruno, Francis, Ignatius, and the
crowd of secular priests, bear the same palm
and shine with the same aureole, for they con
fessed una voce the same faith and sealed it
with their blood, and for this land of ours. But
for their willing sacrifices, this country might
have been as frozen in heresy as Norway or
Sweden and other northern lands.
The period dealt with is full of instruction.
It opens with the greed, lust, and despotism of
Henry VIII. , triumphant in the suppression of
the monasteries, the divorce of Catherine and
the Oath of Supremacy. We note next the
beginning of the new religion, the brief restora
tion of the faith under Mary, then Protestantism
established in blood under Elizabeth. Amidst
the later persecutions, none appear more mali
cious than that of the Commonwealth ; for the
Puritans, like the Nonconformists of to-day, pro
claimed liberty of conscience, and with that cry
on their lips put Catholics to death solely for
vi
PREFACE
their faith. In contrast with the false brethren
and apostates, with the time-servers and the
traitors of every kind — alas, too often found — and
against the growing domination of heretics and
tyrants, the martyrs stand out as the champions
of faith and freedom, and of freedom for the
faith.
Considering the ubiquity and cunning of both
private informers and Government spies, it may
seem strange how the missionaries found even
a temporary shelter on landing in England, but
this was supplied to them by the Catholic laity
without thought of personal risk. Harbouring
priests was always regarded as felony and often
punished by death, yet the cottages and shops
of the poorer classes and the country-houses of
the gentry were ever open to the missioner.
Without the welcome hospitality and services
of the laity, the work of the Apostolate would
have been practically impossible.
It is curious to note how the fire of persecu
tion strengthened men's souls. " In Henry
VIII's time," writes a missionary priest, "the
whole Kingdom, with all its Bishops and learned
men, abjured the faith at the word of the tyrant.
But now in his daughter's time boys and women
boldly profess the faith before the judge, and
refuse to make the slightest concession even at
the risk of death." It must be remembered,
however, that many took the oath under Henry
without realising the nature or consequences of
their act. For, save in the matter of the King's
Supremacy, a tenet which was differently inter
preted, the faith was left intact. Under Eliza-
vii
PREFACE
beth, however, Protestantism undisguised was
introduced, and the whole Marian Episcopacy,
with one exception, died in prison rather than
conform.
The Bishops then suffered for their religion
alone, and their civil loyalty was never ques
tioned. The martyrs, however, were tried and
condemned on the charge of treason — treason
meaning any resistance to the Crown or State in
the matter of religion — and for their resistance,
that is, for their faith, they died. Those, like
BB. Felton, Storey, Woodhouse, who refused to
acknowledge Elizabeth as Queen, because de
posed by the Pope, won their crowns not as
rebels or conspirators, but as champions of the
Pope's authority, refusing the Oath of Supre
macy, on declining by apostasy to save their
lives. Loyalty to the lawful authority of the
Crown was ever a first principle with Catholics.
The " Pilgrimage of Grace" and the " Northern
Rising," both undertaken to restore the old
religion, were heralded by explicit declarations
of loyalty to the reigning monarchs. Revolu
tion was scouted as the offspring and badge of
heresy. Thus B. Edward Powel challenged the
apostate Barnes to show that the ancient creed
had ever produced sedition or rebellion. In the
Armada crisis Catholics, grievously as they had
suffered, came forward, with a Howard at their
head, to defend throne and country. Under
Charles I., thirty years later, Catholics formed a
fourth or even a third of the Royalist Army.
When, then, Gregory XIII in 1580 exempted
Catholics from the obligation of the Bull of
viii
PREFACE
Excommunication, we find priests and laity
alike declaring Elizabeth de juro et de facto
their Queen, for, apart from the Bull, she was
the rightful successor to Mary, and in posses
sion. The loyalty of the martyrs was indeed
emphatic and outspoken. "God bless and save
her," "Preserve her from her enemies," was
their constant prayer on the scaffold. Ven.
R. Drury and the twelve other appellant priests
declared in their testimonial that they were as
ready to shed their blood in defence of Queen
and country as they would be in behalf of the
lawful authority of the Church. Yet, notwith
standing all this,for priest or layman, high or low,
recusancy was treason, treason meant death, and
the appellants suffered with the rest.
The Church then was in the Catacombs.
Her sanctuaries violated, her Liturgy and
solemn offices silenced, the Holy Sacrifice
offered only in secret and at the risk of life.
Still her Divine Notes shone clearly in the
darkness. Though black, she was beautiful.
The penalty of joining her Communion was
probably death, yet out of two hundred and
sixty-five declared Blessed or Venerable from
Elizabeth till Charles II, 1577 to 1681, fifty
were converts from Conformity or Protestant
ism. Of these fifty, thirty were of the Uni
versity of Oxford, nine from that of Cambridge.
Amongst them Fellows of Colleges like Cam
pion and Hartley (S. John's), Sherwin (Exeter),
Munden (New), Forde (Trinity), Richardson
(Brasenose), Pilchard (Balliol) ; noted school
masters like Shert and Cottam ; holders of rich
ix
PREFACE
benefices like Sutton, Vicar of Lutterworth,,
Hanse, promoted to a wealthy living by the
University of Cambridge ; librarians, Heath,
Corpus Christi, Cambridge, men known for
scholarship, learning, and position, and held
in such account by the enemies of the faith,
that honours, preferments, even bishoprics,
were offered them as a bribe for apostasy.
It seemed the hour of Antichrist, and the
whole world seated in wickedness, yet the
hand of the Lord was not shortened that it
could not save, nor His ear heavy that it could
not hear.
Even in these short extracts some of the
martyrs' characteristics are clearly apparent.
The grace of their bearing in youth, Briant,
the beautiful Oxford boy ; their dignity in vene
rable old age, Lockwood, fourscore and seven,
apologising for his slowness in mounting the
ladder ; their bright and cheerful courage,
Cadwallador, the clatter of his fetters, his
" little bells of gold " ; their ready wit,
Anderton, Pope Joan, and Queen Elizabeth ;
their silence under torture when speech meant,
not apostasy, but only danger to a friend,
Sherwin and Briant ; their accurately theo
logical replies to their tormentors, Almond,
Roberts, Plessington, Barlow ; the hidden
heroism of the devout women, Margaret Ward.
Then the matchless melody and stateliness
of their diction : what classic examples may
be met with in More's prayer in the Tower,
Campion's defence on his trial, or as a tribute
of filial piety, Hart's letters to his Protestant
x
PREFACE
mother, or his clarion call " Stand fast ! " to
the Catholic prisoners, or the sacred verses of
Southwell, the first religious poet of his time,
while the ditties of William Blundell present
a striking instance of rugged but devotional
phrase. But perhaps the most prominent trait
of the martyrs is their candour and simplicity,
the utter absence of mannerism or affectation
in life or death, and this stands out in strong
contrast with the pretentious cant of the
ministers their tormentors, and the inane but
virulent pomposity of their judges the pseudo-
Bishops.
As regards their spiritual life, their fasts and
penances, their disciplines and hair-shirts, their
unwearied prayers reveal their training for the
conflict^ while their forgiveness of their perse
cutors under the bitter tortures show whose
disciples they were. Their genuine Catholi
cism, their instinctive love of their faith is seen
in their attachment to the Church's language,
their prayers in Latin, and their refusal to pray
with heretics or to ask for their prayers. " We
are not of your faith," said B. Kirby ; " to pray
with you would be to dishonour God." How
truly they suffered for the faith may be gathered
from the fact that under Henry VIII the Oath
of Supremacy would have saved their lives,
while under Elizabeth and after, the rack, the
rope, the knife need never have been theirs had
they consented to go but once to the Protestant
church, or had accused themselves of treason
which they had never committed. May we
learn to set a higher value on the faith as we
xi
PREFACE
realise the cost of its inheritance, and may we
grasp the truth that faith is to be preserved for
ourselves and our children, not by concession or
compromise, not by crying peace when there
is no peace, or declaring our professed enemies
our surest friends, but by its steadfast and out
spoken defence at the sacrifice of every tem
poral interest, and, if need be, of life itself.
With regard to the plan of the following
pages. The day of death is marked by a cross.
When several martyrdoms take place on the
same day, or several pages are allotted to the
same individual, all but the "crossed" name
are distributed as vacancies occur. The con
sequent separation of names from their proper
days, or the dispersion of extracts belonging to
the same individual or the inversion of their
natural sequence is doubtless inconvenient, but
it was of the first importance to keep the day of
the death with the facts and details of martyr
dom on its proper date when the Feast of the
Martyr may be observed. Moreover, it must
be remembered that the mementoes are not
biographical memoirs, but short extracts or
paragraphs, each complete and distinct in itself
and telling its own tale.
The compiler begs to express his sincere
thanks to their authors or possessors for leave
to use the following works : — Rev. Dom. Bede
Camm, O.S.B., "The Lives of the English
Martyrs"; the Very Rev. F. Stebbing, Pro-
xu
PREFACE
vincial of the Redemptorists, Father Bridgett's
Works ; the Rev. John Pollen, S.J., "The Acts
of the Martyrs"; the Rev. E. G. Phillipps,
Ushaw College, "The Extinction of the Ancient
Hierarchy" ; Francis Blundell, Esq., of Crosby,
the " Ditties of W. Blundell," and the " Cavalier's
Note-Book." Challoner's " Missionary Priests"
has been taken as a text-book, and much use
has been made of the " Records of the English
Catholics," the "Douay Diary," the "Life and
Letters of Cardinal Allen," and of Mrs. Hope's
" Franciscan Martyrs."
Grateful thanks are also due to the Very Rev.
Canon Gildea, D.D., the " Censor Deputatus,"
and to Rev. F. Christie and Brother Vincent
Hayles of the Oratory, London, for much
valuable assistance.
Xlll
JANUARY
1. Past and Present (i) . .
2. Past and Present (a) . .
3. Living Stones ....
|4. The Voice of the Preacher .
5. Defiling the Sanctuaries .
6. The Prodigal's Return .
•fy. Balaam's Ass
8. The Weak made Strong .
9. Conversion by Knight
hood
10. The Pilgrimage of Grace
(i)
11. The Pilgrimage of Grace
(2)
fi2. The Sin of Ozias (i) . .
13. A Herald of the Truth (2) .
14. The Oldest Faith . . .
15. Devotion to the Sacra
ments
16. A Boy Orator
37. Prayer in Suffering .
1 8. Lifting the Feeble Hands .
19. Before the Sanhedrim . .
20. Tribute to Caesar
•j-21. Fortified by Example . .
f22. Scruples Cured ....
23. The Practice of the Law .
f24. Victims of Perjury . . .
25. Saul, otherwise Paul . .
26. The Smile of Royalty . .
27. Mass under Penal Laws .
28. Divine Vengeance on
Heresy
29. Supernatural Sympathies .
30. A Talk with a Reformer .
31. The Punishment of Achab
William Blundell, L.
William Blundell, L.
Abbot Feckenham, O.S.B.
B. Thomas Plumtree, Pr.
Abbot Feckenham, O.S.B.
Father J. Genings, O.S.F.
Ven. Ed. Waterson, Pr.
The Eleven Marian Bps.
Thomas Pounde, SJ.
Sir Robert Aske.
Sir Thomas Percy.
Bp. White, Winchester.
Bp. White, Winchester.
Ven. Wm. Lloyd, Pr.
B. Fisher and Henry VII.
B. Edmund Campion, S. J.
B. Edmund Campion, S.J.
B. Edmund Campion, S.J.
B. Edmund Campion, S.J.
B. Edmund Campion, S.J.
Ven. Reynolds, Pr., and
Ven. Roe, O.S.B.
Ven. Wm. Pattenson, Pr.
Ven. Nich. Woodfen, Pr.
Ven. Ireland, S.J., and
John Grove, L.
Ven. Laurence Humphrey.
B. Thomas More, L.
Letter of a Missionary
Pr.
Ven. Arthur Bell, O.S.F.
Ven. Edw. Stransham, Pr.
B. Ralph Sherwin, Pr.
Father Peto's Prophecy.
FEBRUARY
fi. Grounds for Faith . . .
2. A Mass of Thanks
giving
f3- Weep not for Me . . .
4. Gall to Drink
5. The Bread of the Strong .
6. The Sunamitess Re
warded
f7. True to a Trust ....
8. Prayers with Tears . . .
9. The Stones of Israel . .
10. Father of the Poor . . .
11. Sorrow turned to Joy . .
fi2. A Royal Hypocrite . . .
13. A Friend of Publicans and
Sinners
14. Patience in the Apostolate
15. Injustice Enthroned
16. With the Plague-stricken
17. From City to City . . .
fi8. A Dying Life
19. In the Shadow of Death
(i)
20. In the Shadow of Death
(2)
f2i. A Martyr Poet ....
22. Honey from the Rock . .
23. In the Pit of Misery
24. More Precious than Life .
25. The Changes of Heretics .
26. Faith and Loyalty . . .
27. The One Judge ....
28. Harbouring Priests . . .
29. The Cardinal's Hat
Ven. Henry Morse, SJ.
Ven. Henry Morse, SJ.
B. John Nelson, S.J.
B. John Nelson, S.J.
B. John Nelson, S.J.
Margaret Powell.
B. Thomas Sherwood, L.
B. John Fisher, Card. B.
B. John Fisher, Card. B.
B. John Fisher, Card. B.
Ven. George Haydock,
Pr.
Ven. George Haydock,
Pr.
Ven. James Fenn, Pr.
Ven. John Nutter, Pr.
Ven. John Munden, Pr.
Ven. Henry Morse, S. T.
Ven. Henry Morse, S.J.
Ven. John Pibush, Pr.
B. Thomas More, L.
B. Thomas More, L.
Ven. Robert Southwell,
S.J.
Ven. Robert Southwell,
S.J.
Ven. Robert Southwell,
S.J.
James, Earl of Derwent-
water.
B. Thomas More, L.
Ven. Robert Drury, Pr.
Ven. Mark Barkworth,
O.S.B.
Ven. Anne Line.
B. John Fisher, Card. B.
MARCH
2.
ts-
4-
I
Heavenly Visions . . .
Learning to Die .
The Daily Sacrifice . . .
The Vestments of Salva
tion
Filial Reverence . . . .
Mother of Grace . . . .
Holy Friendship . . .
In Bonds for Christ (i) .
9. In Bonds for Christ (2) .
10. England's Debt to the
Pope
fn. Chains Falling Off. . .
12. "Stand Fast" ....
13. A Last Request ....
14. A Mendicant Chancellor .
fi5. The Apostle of Yorkshire .
16. Night turned to Day . .
17. The Motive of a Missioner
fi8. Christian Modesty . . .
19. A Glimpse of Heaven . .
20. The Morning Star . . .
•{•21. Cut Asunder
22. A Catholic's Grave . . .
23. Fruit of Martyrdom . .
24. The Guardian Angel . .
f25. The Wine-press Alone
(i)
26. Before Herod (2) ...
27. A Valiant Woman (3) . .
28. Filial Piety
29. No Comparison ....
30. Meeting in Heaven
31. Jesus dulcis Memoria . .
3
Ven. Stephen Rowsam, Pr.
Father Coleman.
Ven. Nicholas Horner, L.
B. Thomas More, L.
Ven. James Bird, L.
Ven. Henry Heath, O.S.J.
B. John Larke.
B. Hart to Catholic
Prisoners (i).
B. Hart to Catholic
Prisoners (2).
B. William Hart, Pr.
Ven. Thos. Atkinson, Pr.
B. Hart to the Afflicted
Catholics (i).
B. Hart to the Afflicted
Catholics (2).
B. Thomas More, L.
B. William Hart, Pr.
Ven. Robert Dalby, Pr.
B. William Hart, Pr.
Ven. John Thulis, Pr.
Ven. Roger Wren no, L.
Ven. Henry Heath, O.S.F.
Ven. Thos. Pilchard, Pr.
John Jessop, L.
Ven. William Pikes, L.
Ven. John Hambley, Pr.
B. Margaret Clitheroe.
B. Margaret Clitheroe.
B. Margaret Clitheroe.
B. Hart to his Protestant
Mother (i).
B. Hart to his Protestant
Mother (2).
B. Hart to his Protestant
Mother (3).
Ven. Henry Heath, O.S.F.
APRIL
i. Love of the Seminary . .
•f"2. False Brethren ....
3. Avoidance of Scandal . .
4. The Last of his Line . .
5. Strength in Union . . .
6. The Song of the Spirit,
•jy. Under the Shadow of the
Most High
8. Devotion to S. Winifride .
9. Life in Religion ....
10. Virgo Potens
fi i. Lost and Found. . . .
12. Tormenting Ministers .
fi3. A Fruitful Old Age . .
14. Cry for Relief (i) . . .
15. Cry for Relief (2) . . .
16. Awaiting Sentence .
17. Prayer for England . .
18. The Bride of St. Francis .
19. Good Books
•f-20. Penitent and Martyr . .
{21. Devotion to the Priest
hood
22. An Unexpected Cure . .
23. Ten Just Men ....
24. Always the Same . . .
25. One in Life and Death .
f26. A Cheerful Giver . . .
27. Light and Darkness . .
28. Love, Earthly and Heav
enly
29. In the Waves ....
30. The Pharisees Silenced .
Ven. Thomas Maxwell, Pr.
B. John Payne, Pr.
Archbishop Heath of York.
Bishop Goldwell, of S.
Asaph.
Ven. Henry Walpole, S. T.
Ven. Henry Walpole, S.J.
Ven. Henry Walpole, S.J.
Ven. Edward Oldcorne,
SJ.
Ven. Henry Heath, O.S.F.
Ven. Henry Heath, O.S.F.
Ven. George Gervase,
O.S.B.
Ven. George Gervase,
O.S.B.
Ven. John Lockwood,
Pr.
William Blundell, L.
William Blundell, L.
Ven. Henry Heath, O.S.F.
Ven. Henry Heath, O.S.F.
Ven. Henry Heath, O.S.F.
Ven. James Duckett.
Ven. James Bell, Pr.
Ven. Thomas Tichburne,
Pr.
Ven. Robert Walkinson,
Pr.
B. John Fisher, Card. B.
B. John Fisher, Card. B.
Ven. Anderton and Ven.
Marsden, Prs.
Ven. Edward Morgan , Pr.
Ven. Francis Page, SJ.
Ven. Francis Page, S.J.
Ven. Anderton and Ven.
Marsden, Prs.
Ven. Robert Anderton, Pr.
MAY
1. The Witness of Tradi
tion
2. The Mass of the Holy
Ghost
fs- The Seal of Confession .
f4. Holy Wrath
5. The Voice of the Bride
groom
6. A Model of the Flock . .
7. Holy Fear
8. A Garment of Camel's Hair
fg. A Joyful Countenance . .
10. The True Plotters . . .
1 1 1. A Violated Cloister . .
12. Called by Name ....
13. A Royal Penitent . . .
14. One only Gospel . . .
15. Points in Controversy . .
16. The Confession of an
Apostate
17. Devotion to Relics . . .
18. The Mother of the Macha-
bees
fig. Come Quickly ....
20. Prayers in Latin
21. Hung on Presumption
•f-22. A Living Holocaust . .
23. Patience under Calumny.
24. A Catholic Cavalier . .
25. Refusing a Challenge . .
26. Praise and Thanksgiving .
27. Father forgive them
28. The Snares of the Phari
sees
f2g. Holy Mass and Martyrdom
f30. Love of the Cross . . .
31. Wisdom in Speech . . .
5
B. Richard Reynolds,
Bridgettine.
B. John Houghton, Car
thusian.
Father Henry Garnet, S.J.
B. John Haile, Pr.
BB. Houghton, Lawrence
and Webster, Carthusians
B. Richard Reynolds,
Bridgettine.
B. Thomas Cottam, Pr.
B. Thomas Cottam, Pr.
B. Thos. Pickering, O.S.B.
B. Richard Newport, Pr.
BB. John Rochester and
John Walworth, Carth.
B.John Stone, Augustinian.
Catherine of Aragon to
B. John Forest.
B. John Forest to Queen
Catherine.
B. Richard Thirkell, Pr.
Nichols to B. Luke
Kirby, Pr.
Mary Hutton.
B. Margaret Pole.
Ven. Peter Wright, S.J.
B. Robert Johnson, Pr.
Ven. William Scot, O.S.B.
B. John Fcrest, O.S.F.
B. Law. Richardson, Pr.
William Blundell, L.
William Blundell, L.
B. John Shert, Pr.
B. Thomas Cottam, Pr.
B. Thomas Ford, Pr.
B. Richard Thirkell, Pr.
B. William Filbie, Pr.
B. Luke Kirby, Pr.
JUNE
1. Reparation (i) . . . .
2. Reparation (2) ....
f3. Dignity of the Priesthood .
4. Wisdom of the Ancients .
f5. The House of my God
6. A Boon of the Penal Laws
7. A Priest to the Rescue
8. Our Lady of Ipswich . .
9. The End and the Means .
10. " Possurnus" (We can) .
11. An unjust Judgment . .
12. Love's Servile Lot . . .
fi3. Yea, yea, No, no . ,
14. The Learning of
Simple
15. A Bribe Rejected . .
16. A Puritan Conscience .
17. The Commission
Preach
18. Looking on Jesus . .
fig. The Whims of a King
•f-20. Leave to Lie . . . .
the
to
f2i. Fetters Unloosed .
22. Ascending the Steps .
23. Learning for Life . .
24. The Wedding Garment
25. A Martyr's Sleep . .
26. The Bones of Elias . .
27. Feeding the Hungry .
f28. A Dangerous Seducer .
29. S. Peter's Remorse . .
t30. A Good Day
B. John Story, L.
B. John Story, L.
Ven. Francis Ingleby, Pr.
Bishop Poole, of Peter
borough.
Father John Gray, O.^.F.
William Blundell, L.
B. Richard Thirkell, Pr.
B. Thomas More, L.
Ven. William Harcourt,
S.J.
Ven. Thomas Whitebread,
S.J.
Ven. Thomas Whitebread,
S.J.
Ven. Robert Southwell,
S.J.
B. Thomas Woodhouse,
S.J.
B. John Rigby, L.
Five Jesuit Martyrs.
Ven. John South worth, Pr.
Ven. John Southworth, Pr.
Ven. John Southworth, Pr.
B. Sebastian Newdigate,
Carthusian.
B. Thomas Whitebread,
S.J.
Ven. John Rigby, L.'
B. John Fisher, Card. B.
B. John Fisher, Card. B.
B. John Fisher, Card. B.
B. John Fisher, Card. B.
B. John Fisher, Card. B.
Margaret Clement.
Ven. John Southworth, Pr.
Ven. Robert Southwell,
S.J.
Ven. Philip Powell, O.S.B.
JULY
fi. The Fruits of the Spirit .
f2. Prayer without ceasing
3. Tyburn in Gala ....
t4- A Man of God ....
fS. The Last First ....
|6. The Privileges of Martyr
dom
|7. The Spouse of the Can
ticles
f8. The Shield of Faith . .
9. Introducer to Christ . .
10. The Winding-Sheet . .
11. "For My Sake and the
Gospel "
ti2. Apostolic Charity . . .
fi3. Pilate's Wife
fi4. The Law Eternal . . .
15. No Compromise ....
f 16. The Continuity Theory .
17. Zeal for Martyrdom . .
18. His Father's Son . . .
fig. " Bones Thou hast
humbled "
20. No Priest, no Religion
21. The Three Children in
the Furnace
22. Always Ready . .
23. A Fall and a Victory .
|24. Another Judas . . .
25. The Seed of the Church
26. A Brother in Need . .
fsj. Voices from Heaven .
faS. A Client of St. Anne .
\2g. A Burning Heart . .
•[30. At Last . . . 4 . .
•(•31. Shod for the Gospel
Ven. Oliver Plunket, Arch
bishop.
Ven. Momford Scot, Pr.
Ven. T. Maxfield, Pr.
Ven. J. Cornelius, S.J.
Ven. George Nichols, Pr.
B. Thomas More, L.
Ven. Roger Dickinson and
Companions.
B. Adrian Fortescue.
Ven. Ralph Milner, L.
B. Thomas More, L.
Ven. Ralph Milner, L.
Ven. J. Buckley, O.S.F.
Ven. T. Tunstal, Pr.
Ven. R. Langhorne, L.
B. Thomas More, L.
Ven. John Sugar, Pr.
Ven. Robert Grissold, L.
Ven. William Davies,
Pr.
Ven. Anthony Brookby,
O.S.F.
Ven. William Plessington.
Ven. William Davies and
Companions.
Ven. Philip Evans, S.J.
Ven. Richard Sympson.Pr.
Ven. John Bost, Pr.
Ven. John Ingram, Pr.
Ven. Geo. Swallowell, L.
Ven. Robert Sutton, Pr.
Ven. Wm. Ward, O.S.F.
Ven. Wm. Ward, O.S.F.
B. Thomas Abel, Pr.
B. Everard Hanse, Pr.
AUGUST
1. Peter repentant . . .
2. Casting out Fear . .
3. The Baptist and Herod
4. Hermit and Martyr
5. The Wings of a Dove .
6. Twice Hung ....
f7. A Public Confession . .
+8. A Champion of the Pope .
fg. Poison detected ....
10. Forward to the Mark . .
11. The Northern Rising . .
12. The Abomination of De
solation
13. Cleansing the Temple.
14. Absolved from Afar . .
15. The Four Last Things .
16. Four Things more . . .
17. A Hunted Life ....
18. The Eternal Priesthood .
fig. A Lamentation fulfilled .
20. Thirty Pieces of Silver .
21. The Friday Abstinence .
+22. The Holy House of Loreto
23. The Crown of Dignity
24. A Voluntary Offering . .
25. Reproached for Christ .
f26. Cheerful in Adversity . .
f27. Glorifying God ....
f28. Striking their Breasts . .
f2g. Murder for Example . .
f30. Visiting the Prisoners . .
*3i. The Tabernacle of Kore .
8
John Thomas, L.
Ven. Th. Whitaker, Pr.
Ven. Thomas Belchiam,
O.S.F.
Ven. Nicholas Postgate,
Pr.
Ven. Nicholas Postgate,
Pr.
Ven. John Woodcock,
O.S.F.
Ven. Edward Bamber, Pr.
B. John Felton, L.
Ven. Thos. Palasor, Pr.
Ven. John Woodcock,
O.S.F.
Letter of St. Pius V.
B. Thomas Percy, L.
B. Thomas Percy, L.
Ven. Hugh Green, Pr.
Ven. Hugh Green, Pr.,
on the Scaffold.
Ven. Hugh Green, Pr.,
on the Scaffold.
Ven. Thos. Holford, Pr.
Ven. R. Cadwallador, Pr,
Ven. Hugh Green, Pr.
B. Thomas Percy, L.
B. Thomas Percy, L.
B. William Lacy, Pr.
Ven. John Kemble, Pr.
Ven. John Wall, O.S.F.
Ven. Charles Baker, SJ.
Bishop Thirlby, of Ely.
Ven. Roger Cadwalla
dor, Pr.
Ven. Edmund Arrow-
smith, SJ.
Ven. Richard Herst, L.
Ven. Margaret Ward.
Ven. Thomas Felton, L.
SEPTEMBER
1. A Life-Offering for the
People
2. Time and Eternity . . .
3. How long, O Lord? . .
4. Perseverance
5. Faithful in the End . .
6. An Easter Offering . . .
fy. The Contemplative Way .
8. Holy Rivalry . . . . ' .
9. The Kiss of Peace . . .
10. Pressed out of Measure .
xi. Hereditary Champion of
England
12. A Martyr's Maxims (i) .
13. A Martyr's Maxims (2)
14. Separated unto the Gospel
15. The Primitive Church . .
16. Horror of Scandal .
17. Romans the only Priests .
18. Stronger than Death . .
19. Prayers for the Dead .
20. To Save Others ....
21. A Holy Youth ....
22. Lowly, but bold ....
23. The Narrow Way . .
24. A Martyr's Legacies . .
25. A Reprover of Sin . .
26. A Fair Trial
27. A Peacemaker ....
28. Petition for re-admission .
t2Q. Love of Parents ....
30. Little Bells of Gold . . .
Ven. John Goodman, Pr.
B. Thomas More, L. .
B. Abel, Pr., to B. Forest,
O.S.F.
B. John Forest to B. Abel.
Bp. Bonner, of London.
Ven. Ed. Barlow, O.S.B.
Ven. John Duckett, Pr.
Ven. Corby, S.T., and
Ven. Duckett, Pr.
Ven. Corby, S.J., and
Ven. Duckett, Pr.
Bishop Bourne, of Bath
and Wells.
Robert Dymocke, L.
B. Adrian Fortescue, L.
B. Adrian Fortescue, L.
Ven. Ed. Barlow, O.S.B.
Ven. Ed. Barlow, O.S.B.
Ven. Ed. Barlow, O.S.B.
Ven. Ed. Barlow, O.S.B.
Ven. Richard Herst, L.
Ven. Richard Herst, L.
Ven. John Duckett, Pr.
Ven. Edmund Arrow-
smith, S.J.
Ven. Edmund Arrow-
smith, S.J.
Ven. John Wall, O.S.F.
B. Everard Hanse, Pr.
Ven. Oliver Plunket, Arch
bishop.
Ven. Oliver Plunket, Arch
bishop.
Bishop Watson , of Lincoln.
Ven. J. Woodcock, O.S.F.
Ven. William Spenser, Pr.
Ven. Roger Cadwalla-
dor, Pr.
OCTOBER
fr. A True Israelite ....
2. The Unity of Christendom
3. An Advocate of Christ
4. The Final Judgment . .
5. A Mother's Sacrifice
6. The Catholic Association .
7. Poverty Preferred . . .
f8. Casting out Devils . . .
9. Our Captain Christ (i) .
10. Our Captain Christ (2)
11. The Image of Christ . .
fi2. Fire from Heaven . . .
13. The Last Gloria ....
14. The Dwellers of Caphar-
naum
15. A Prophecy Fulfilled . .
fi6. Father of many Sons . .
17. On Attendance at Protes
tant Services
1 8. An Apostate Land . . .
•{19. From Prison to Paradise .
" 20. The Hatred of Herodias(i)
21. The Hatred of Herodias(2)
22. A Filial Appeal ....
23. The Strictness of the
Reckoning
24. And then the Judgment .
25. Our Home in Heaven . .
26. Wisdom learnt in Chains
27. A Worm and no Man .
28. The More Excellent Way
29. With Arms Outstretched .
f30. The Voice of the People .
31. Thirst for Martyrdom . .
IO
Ven. John Robinson, Pr.
B. Thomas More, L.
Ven. Philip Powell, O.S.B.
B. Edmund Campion, S.J.
Ven. William Hartley,
Pr.
George Gilbert, S.J.
Bishop Bonner, of Lon
don.
Ven. Richard Dibdale, Pr.
B. Thirkell to the Catholic
prisoners (i).
B. Thirkell to the Catholic
prisoners (2).
Ven. Th. Bullaker, O.S.F.
Ven. Th. Bullaker, O.S.F.
Ven. Th. Bullaker, O.S.F.
Ven. Th. Bullaker, O.S.F.
Ven. Th. Bullaker, O.S.F.
William, Cardinal Allen.
William, Cardinal Allen.
William, Cardinal Allen.
Ven. Philip Howard, L.
Ven. Philip Howard, L.
Ven. Philip Howard, L.
Ven. Southwell, S. J. , to his
Protestant father.
Ven. Southwell, S. J. , to his
Protestant father.
Ven. Southwell, S.J., to his
Protestant father.
Ven. Southwell, S.J., to his
Protestant father.
B. Richard Thirkell, Pr.
B. Alexander Briant, S.J.
B. Alexander Briant, S.J.
Ven. Henry Heath, O.S.F.
Ven. John Slade, L.
Ven. Henry Heath, O.S.F.
NOVEMBER
I. Upon the Image of Death
f 2. The Waters of Mara . .
3. A Vision in the Night .
4. Masses for the Dead . .
5. The Blackfriar's Collapse
6. The Vow of Religion . .
7. God's Ways not Ours . .
8. Faith and Loyalty . . .
f9. The Last Mass ....
10. Unseen in the Midst of
Them
11. A Blessed Lot ....
12. Called to Account . . .
13. Need of Contrition
14. Guardian of the Sanctu
ary
+15. The Watchman on the
Walls
fi6. Devotion to S. Jerome . .
17. Strong in Hope ....
1 8. The Passion Foretold . .
19. False Witnesses ....
20. Lifelong Repentance .
21. Shedding Innocent Blood
22. Willing Sacrifices .
f23. Wasted Away ....
24. Alone with God ....
25. A Daughter's Farewell .
. The House of Zaccheus .
27. Wolves in Sheep's Cloth
ing
28. The Martyrs' Shrines . .
2g. First-Fruits .....
30. Satan Thwarted ....
II
25
J26
Yen. Robert Southwell,
S.J.
Ven. John Bodey, L.
Ven. John Bodey, L.
Ven. John Cornelius, S.T.
Father Robert Drury, SJ.
Ven. Cornelius, S.J., to a
Nun.
Ven. Edmund Genings.Pr.
B. Edward Powell, Pr.
Ven. George Nappier, Pr.
Ven. George Nappier, Pr.
Ven. Peter Wright, S.J.,
on the Scaffold.
B. Campion, to Protestant
Bishop Cheney.
Ven. John Almond, Pr.
B. Faringdon, O.S.B.
B. Whiting, O.S.B.
Ven. Edward Osbalde-
stone, Pr.
Bishop Bayne,of Lichfield.
B. Edmund Campion, SJ.
B. Edmund Campion, SJ.
Bishop Tunstall, of Dur
ham.
B. Edmund Campion, S.T.
Ven. Robert Southwell,
SJ.
Bishop Pate, of Worcester.
B. Thomas More, L.
B. Thomas More, L.
Ven. MarmadukeBowes,L.
Ven. George Errington,
L. , and Companions.
James Thompson, Pr.
B. Cuthbert Mayne, Pr.
Ven. Alexander Crow, Pr.
DECEMBER
fi. A Sight to God and
Man
2. Keeper of the Vineyard .
3. The Cross and the
Crown
4. Painless Torment . . .
f5. Blood for Blood ....
6. Flores Martyrum . . .
7. Faith and Works . . .
8. The Sleep of the Just . .
9. Malchus' Ear ....
•fio. The Sweat of the Passion
4ix. The Office of Our Lady .
|i2. All Things to all Men . .
13. Invocation of the Saints .
14. The Fool's Robe . . .
iq. Not in the Judgment
Hall
16. A Mighty Hunter . . .
17. In Bonds, but Free . . .
18. The Good Thief . . .
19. The Last Supper . . .
20. The Mission to Teach . .
21. Priest, not Traitor . . .
22. The Rights of the Church
23. Freemen Born ....
f24. A Priest's Epitaph . . .
25. The Burning Babe . . .
26. Fit for War and Comely .
27. Black, but Beautiful . .
28. Graven in God's Hands .
f2g. The Witness of a Good
Conscience
30. A Persecutor Penitent . .
31. Sorrow to Life ....
B. Edmund Campion,
S.J.
B. John Beche, O.S.B.
B. Alexander Briant, S.J.
B. Alexander Briant, S.J.
Ven. John Almond, Pr.
Ven. John Almond, Pr.
Ven. John Almond, Pr.
B. Ralph Sherwin, Pr.
Ven. John Mason, L.
Ven. Eustace White, Pr.
Ven. Arthur Bell, O.S.F.
Ven. Thomas Holland,
S.J.
Ven. Ed. Genings, Pr.
Ven. Ed. Genings, Pr.
Ven. Ed. Genings, Pr.
Ven. Swithin Wells, L.
Ven. Swithin Wells, L.
Ven. John Roberts, O.S.B.
Ven. John Roberts, O.S.B.
Ven. John Roberts, O.S.B.
Ven. John Roberts, O.S.B.
Ven. John Roberts, O.S.B.
Ven. Edmund Genings,
and Companions.
George Muscot, Pr.
Ven. Robert Southwell,
S.J.
B. Alexander Briant, S.J.
B. Alexander Briant, S.J.
B. Ralph Sherwin, Pr.
William, Viscount Stafford.
Ven. John Almond, Pr.
Bp. Oglethorpe, of Carlisle.
12
January I
PAST AND PRESENT (i)
W. BLUNDELL, 1600
THE time hath been we had one faith,
And strode aright one ancient path ;
The time is now that each man may
See new Religions coin'd each day.
Sweet Jesu, with thy mother mild.
Sweet Virgin mother, with thy child,
Angels and Saints of each degree,
Redress our country's misery.
The time hath been priests did accord
In exposition of God's word ;
The time is now, like shipman's hose,
It's turn'd by each fond preacher's glose.
The time hath been that sheep obeyed
Their pastors, doing as they said ;
The time is now that sheep will preach,
And th' ancient pastors seem to teach.
The time hath been the prelate's door
Was seldom shut against the poor ;
The time is now, so wives go fine,
They take not thought the beggar kine.
The time hath been men did believe
God's sacraments his grace did give ;
The time is now men say they are
Uncertain signs and tokens bare.
13
January 2
PAST AND PRESENT (2)
THE time hath been men would live chaste,
And so could maid that vows had past ;
The time is now that gift has gone,
New gospellers such gifts have none.
Sweet Jesu, with thy mother mild,
Sweet Virgin mother, with thy child ;
Angels and Saints of each degree
Redress our country's misery.
The time hath been that Saints could see,
Could hear and help our misery ;
The time is now that fiends alone
Have leave to range — saints must be gone.
The time hath been fear made us quake
To sin, lest God should us forsake ;
The time is now the vilest knave
Is sure (he'll say) God will him save.
The time hath been to fast and pray,
And do alms deeds was thought the way ;
The time is now, men say indeed,
Such stuff with God hath little meed.
The time hath been, within this land,
One's word as good as was his bond ;
The time is now, all men may see,
New faiths have killed old honesty.
14
January 3
LIVING STONES
ABBOT FECKENHAM, O.S.B., 1585 (i)
JOHN HOWMAN was born at Feckenham in
Worcestershire, and is known by the name of
his birthplace. As a Benedictine monk he
became chaplain to Bishop Bonner, and was
imprisoned in the reign of Edward VI for his
defence of the Faith. Under Mary he became
Dean of St. Paul's, and, later, Abbot of the re
stored Abbey of Westminster. In spite of its
late dissolution, he received the Queen on St.
Thomas' Eve, December 20, 1556, with twenty-
eight other monks, all men of mature age, the
youngest being upwards of forty, and all pious
and learned. Some three years later, when he
met Elizabeth for the opening of her first Parlia
ment at the Abbey door, he in his pontifical
robes and his monks in procession with their
lighted candles, the Queen cried out, "Away
with these lights ! We see very well." The
Litany was sung in English, and Dr. Cox, a
married priest and bitter heretic, preached
against the Catholic religion and the monks,
and urged the Queen to destroy them- The
Abbot then knew that his fate was sealed. On
July 12, 1559, Feckenham and his monks were
ejected for refusing to take the Oath of Supre
macy. He was imprisoned, and died at Wis-
beach, 1585. His abbey was destroyed, but the
stones live.
" Be ye also as living stones built up, a spiritual
house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God." — I PETER ii. 5.
IS
January 4
THE VOICE OF THE PREACHER
B. THOMAS PLUMTREE, Pr., 1572
BORN in the diocese of Lincoln, a scholar of
.Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in 1546, he was
made Rector of Stubton in his native county.
He resigned his benefice on the change of re
ligion under Elizabeth, and became a school
master at Lincoln, but was obliged to resign the
post on account of his faith. But it is as chief
chaplain and priest of the army of the Rising
that he won the martyr's palm. His voice seems
to have been like the Baptist's and to have stirred
high and low alike. His call to abandon heresy
and to rally to the standard of the faith ran
through the northern counties, and hundreds
came in response to his summons. He appears
to have been celebrant of the Mass in Durham
Cathedral immediately preceding F. Holmes'
sermon and the public Absolution which followed.
On his capture after the failure of the Rising, he
was singled out as a notable example of the
priests who had officiated. On the gibbet in
the market-place at Durham he was offered his
life if he would embrace heresy, but he refused,
and dying to this world received eternal life
from Christ. He suffered January 4, 1572, and
was buried in the market-place.
" Wherein I labour even unto bands, but the
word of God is not bound." — 2 TIM. ii. 9.
16
January 5
DEFILING THE SANCTUARIES
Abbot FECKENHAM, O.S.B. (2)
SPEECH in the House of Lords : " My good
Lords, when in Queen Mary's days your
honour do know right well how the people
of this realm did live in order and under law.
There was no spoiling of Churches, pulling
down of Altars, and most blasphemous tread
ing down of The Sacrament under their feet,
and hanging up the knave of clubs in the place
thereof. There was no knocking or cutting of
the face and legs of the Crucifix, and of the
image of Christ. There was no open flesh-
eating or shambles-keeping in the Lent and
days prohibited. The subjects of this realm,
and especially such as were of the honourable
council in Queen Mary's days, knew the way
to Church or Chapel, and to begin their daily
work by calling for help and grace by humble
prayer. But now since the coming of our most
sovereign and dear lady Queen Elizabeth, by
the only preachers and scaffold-players of this
new religion all things are changed and turned
upside down. Obedience is gone, humility and
meekness clean abolished, virtuous, chaste, and
straight living abandoned."
" Her priests have despised my law and have
defiled my sanctuaries. Her princes in the
midst of her are like wolves ravening the prey,
to shed blood and destroy souls." — EZEK. xxii.
26, 27.
I? B
January 6
THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN
Father JOHN GENINGS, O.S.F., d. 1660
THE news of his brother's martyrdom in
December 1591 caused John Genings joy
rather than sorrow, since he deemed it an
escape from all Edmund's arguments and
persuasions in favour of the Catholic religion,
being himself strongly against the faith. But
about ten days after his brother's execution,
having spent all that day in sport and jollity,
being weary with play, he returned home.
There his heart felt heavy, and he began to
weigh how idly he had passed the day. His
brother's death came before him, and how he
had abandoned all worldly pleasures, and for
the sake of religion alone endured intolerable
torments. Then the contrast of their two lives
— the one mortified, fearing sin, the other spent
in self-indulgence and in every kind of vice.
Struck with remorse, he wept bitterly and
besought God to show him the truth. In an
instant joy filled his heart with a tender
reverence for the Blessed Virgin and the
Saints, of whom he had scarcely heard. He
longed now to be of his brother's faith, and
gloried in his eternal happiness. He left
England secretly, was made priest at Douay,
became a Franciscan, and the first Provincial
of the renewed English Province.
" I will arise and go to my Father, and say
to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven
and before thee." — LUKE xv. 8.
18
January 7
BALAAM'S ASS
t Ven. EDWARD WATERSON, Pr., 1593
HE was born in London and brought up in the
Protestant religion. In company with certain
merchants he travelled to Turkey to see the
East, and there a rich Turk, taking a fancy to
him, offered him his daughter in marriage
if he would renounce Christianity. Waterson,
however, refused the proposal with horror, and
taking Rome on his way homewards was in
structed and reconciled to the Church. He
was then admitted as a student at Rheims, and
though he had but little learning, his zeal
mastered all difficulties, and he was ordained
priest in Mid-Lent 1592 and sent to England,
^hortly after his arrival he was apprehended
and condemned on account of his priesthood.
Catholic eye-witnesses relate that, as he was
being drawn to his execution, the hurdle
suddenly stood still, and the officers in vain
flogged the horses to move it. Fresh animals
were secured, but they broke the traces, and
the hurdle remained fixed. Waterson had
therefore to be led on foot to the gallows ;
there the ladder shook violently of itself till
the martyr by the sign of the Cross made it
still, and ascending won his crown.
" And when the ass saw the angel standing
she fell under the feet of the rider, who, being
angry, beat her sides more vehemently with a
staff."— NUM. xxii. 27.
19
January 8
THE WEAK MADE STRONG
THE ELEVEN MARIAN BISHOPS
BY permission of Gregory XIII, under the
fresco of a prison, on the walls of the English
College, Rome, the following sentence was
inscribed : "For their Confession of the Roman
See and the Catholic Faith, eleven Catholic
Bishops died, after wasting away by a long
imprisonment." That is, the Catholic Bishops
whom Elizabeth found in their Sees on her
accession, with the exception of Kitchen of
Llandaff, one and all refused to take the oath
of supremacy, and were deposed. Those who
had been weak before, like Tunstall and
Gardiner, and had accepted Henry VIII under
the title of Head of the Church, were staunch
now, for they had learnt where their error led.
They were placed in private confinement or
imprisoned, but on the breaking out of the
Plague in London they were subjected to the
galling custody of their Protestant successors
in what had been their own palaces, and there
in one or other prison in the end all died.
Their end was in obloquy before men, but their
sculptured effigies in desecrated cathedrals
would never give God the glory of their broken
croziers and empty thrones.
"They recovered strength from weakness,
and became valiant in war ; they had trials of
mockeries and stripes, moreover also of bands
and prisons, being approved by the testimony
of their faith." — HEB. xi. 34, 36, 39.
20
January 9
CONVERSION BY KNIGHTHOOD
THOMAS POUNDE, SJ.
BORN at Belmont, near Winchester, and edu
cated at that College, in gifts of body and mind
he far surpassed his fellows. Inheriting a large
fortune of his father's, he soon won the favour of
Elizabeth by his handsome presence, physical
agility, lavish expenditure, and ready wit. A
complimentary poem of his, which he delivered
to the Queen at Winchester College, still further
secured her partiality. He basked in her smiles,
and, though a Catholic at heart, professed her
new religion. On Christmas Day, 1569, at a
great Court festivity, Pounde surpassed all com
petitors in the execution of a dance in which he
spun with marvellous rapidity. At the Queen's
invitation he consented to repeat the perform
ance, but, turning giddy, fell prostrate, amidst
the jeers of the spectators. The Queen's
laughter mingled with the rest, and, giving him
a kick in derision, bade him, "Rise, Sir Ox !"
" Sic transit gloria mundi," he was heard to say
as he rose a changed man. He retired to Bel
mont, was reconciled to the Church, entered on
a life of prayer and severe penance, and for his
open profession and skilled defence of his faith
spent his days in prison for thirty years. He
was liberated by James I in 1603, was admitted
into the Society of Jesus and died 1615.
" O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull
of heart ? Why do you love vanity and seek
after lying?" — Ps. iv. 3.
O T
January 10
THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE (i)
Sir ROBERT ASKE
HE was of an old Yorkshire family, and was the
chief leader in the Pilgrimage of Grace, as
he had been in the Lincolnshire rising. The
following is his proclamation, October 1536:
" Simple and evil-disposed persons being of the
King's Council have incensed his Grace with
many inductions contrary to the faith of God,
the honour of the King, and the weal of the
Realm. They intend to destroy the Church in
England and her ministers ; they have robbed
and spoiled, and further they intend to rob and
spoil, the whole body of this realm. We have
now taken this Pilgrimage for the preservation
of Christ's Church, of the Realm, of the King :
to the intent of making petition to the King for
the reformation of that which is amiss, and for
the punishment of heretics and subverters of the
laws ; and neither for money, malice, nor dis
pleasure of any person, but such as be unworthy
to remain about the King. Come with us,
Lords, Knights, Masters, Kinsmen, and friends !
If ye fight against us and defeat, ye will but put
both us and you into bondage for ever ; if we
overcome you, ye shall be at your will. We
will fight and die against all who shall be about
to stop us in this pilgrimage, and God shall
judge between us."
"What wouldest thou ask of us? We are
ready to die rather than transgress the laws of
God received from our fathers." — 2 MACH.
vii. 2.
22
January 1 1
THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE (2)
Sir THOMAS PERCY, 1536
IN October 1536, from the Scottish Borders
to the Humber, the good staunch Catholics
of the North flocked to the banners of the Pil
grimage of Grace. Second in command under
Aske, leading the vanguard of six thousand
men under the banner of St. Cuthbert, rode Sir
Thomas Percy, brother of the Earl of Northum
berland. They marched, some forty thousand
strong, into Yorkshire, and Henry quailed be
fore the pilgrims, though his forces were large.
By deceitfully promising the redress of their
grievances he cajoled them into dispersing and
returning home. But in the next spring, on
their re-assembling, he despatched more numer
ous troops to the Duke of Norfolk, his lieutenant,
who succeeded in securing their leaders. Sir
Thomas, though he surrendered, was taken to
Westminster, tried, and hanged with, amongst
other supposed leaders, the Abbot of Jervaulx
and the Dominican Friar John Pickering. They
suffered " because, as false traitors, they con
spired to deprive the King of his royal dignity,
viz. of being on earth the Supreme Head of the
Church in England."
Thus, though not among the Beatified, they
died for the faith.
" For whom do you stay ? I will not obey
the commandment of the King, but the com
mandment of God which was given by Moses."
—2 MACH. vii. 30.
23
January 12
THE SIN OF OZIAS
t Bishop WHITE OF WINCHESTER, 1560 (i)
HE was Warden of Winchester School in 1551,
when the second master perverted to Calvinism ;
the head boy, Joliffe, and many of the scholars
were infected by the heresy. It was the year of
the sweating sickness. Joliffe and his followers
were seized with the malady and died. Then
the Warden, by his powerful exhortations,
brought the school to penance, and renewed
the faith of the boys — some two hundred strong.
For his resistance to Edward VI's innovations
he was committed to the Tower. Promoted by
Mary to the See of Winchester, at her funeral
sermon he said, " She found the realm poisoned
with heresy and purged it, and remembering
herself to be a member of Christ's Church she
refused to write herself head thereof, which title
no prince a thousand and five hundred years after
Christ usurped, and was herself by her learning
able to render the cause why. She could say
that after Zacharias was dead, Ozias the prince
took on him the priest's office, which prospered
not with him because it was not his vocation,
but God struck him therefore with leprosy on
his forehead. She would say, ' How can I,
being a woman, be head of the Church, who
by the Scriptures am forbidden to speak in the
Church.'"
" And Ozias the king was a leper to the day
of his death, for which he had been cast out of
the house of the Lord."— 2 PARAL. xxvi. 21.
24
January 1 3
A HERALD OF THE TRUTH
Bishop WHITE OF WINCHESTER, 1560 (2)
" I AM come into this world," he said in his
sermon, "to this end, to serve God and to be
saved. I come into this world to witness unto
the truth, as Christ my Master came before me,
but I impugn the truth and advance falsehood.
I was regenerate, and by solemn vow became a
member of Christ's Catholic Church, and have
since divided myself from the unity thereof,
and I am become a member of the new Church
of Geneva ; and did after lapse to actual and
deadly sin ; reformed by Heaven, I am now
again relapsed to sin, and dwell stubbornly
therein. Mark my end right honourable, and
what shall become of me ! I shall in the end
be damned everlastingly." Of Bishops he says :
"They are placed by God, as Ezechias says, to
keep watch and ward upon the walls and give
warning when the enemy cometh ; if, then, they
see the wolf toward the flock, as at the present
he be coming from Geneva and Germany with
their pestilential doctrines to infect the people,
and from fear or flattery they give no warning,
and let the wolves devour their flock, the blood
of the people will be required at their hand."
He died of Tower ague, contracted in prison,
July 12, 1560.
" I am come into the world that I should give
testimony of the truth." — JOHN xviii. 37.
January 14
THE OLDEST FAITH
Ven. WILLIAM LLOYD, Pr., 1679
BORN in Carmarthenshire, he became a convert,
was ordained at Lisbon, and returned to the
English Mission. In spite of continuous illness,
he toiled for souls till his arrest for the pates
Plot, for which he was condemned, but died in
prison at Brecknock six days before the date
appointed for his execution in 1679. He left a
speech for his execution, of which a portion is
here summarised : " The faith in which I leave
this world is that in which the Apostles lived
and died after having received the Holy Ghost,
and I do renounce all errors against that faith.
Without faith no one can please God, and
without pleasing God no one can be saved, and
seeing there is no faith save that which Christ
taught to His Apostles, it behoveth every man
to find out that faith and to live and die in it,
though they lose the world thereby, for it means
being saved or dammed for ever. Now that
Apostolic faith must be the oldest, for it was
planted by our Saviour Himself, which He pro
mised should last for ever, and against which
the gates of Hell should never prevail. For
this reason I made choice of the Holy Catholic
Apostolic faith and Roman religion to live and
die in."
" Built on the foundation of the prophets and
apostles, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
corner-stone." — EPH. ii. 20.
26
January 15
DEVOTION TO THE SACRAMENTS
B. FISHER and HENRY VII, 1509
IN his funeral sermon on Henry VII Fisher
said: "The cause of his hope was true belief
that he had in God, in His Church, and in the
Sacraments thereof, which he received all with
marvellous devotion ; namely, in the Sacrament
of Penance, the Sacrament of the Altar, and
the Sacrament of Aneling — the Sacrament of
Penance with a marvellous compassion and
flow of tears ; the Sacrament of the Altar he
received at Mid-Lent and again upon Easter
Day with great reverence. At his first entry
into the closet, where the Sacrament was, he
took off his bonnet and kneeled down upon his
knees, and so crept forth devoutly till he came
unto the place itself where he received the
Sacrament. The Sacrament of Aneling, when
he well perceived that he began utterly to
fail, he desirously asked therefor, and heartily
prayed that it might be administered unto
him ; wherein he made ready and offered every
part of his body by order, and as he might for
weakness turned himself at every time and
answered in the suffrages thereof. That same
day of his departing, he heard Mass of the
Glorious Virgin, the Mother of Christ, to whom
always in his life he had singular and special
devotion."
"If thou didst know the gift of God." —
JOHN iv. 10.
27
January 16
A BOY ORATOR
B. EDMUND CAMPION, S.J., 1581
BORN 1 540, of Catholic parents in London, he
was educated at Christ's Hospital, Newgate, and
for his proved ability was given a scholarship
by Sir John White in his new foundation of St.
John's College, Oxford. But he was famous
for his gift of eloquence from his earliest youth.
As a Bluecoat boy of thirteen years of age he
made an oration to Queen Mary on her acces
sion, opposite St. Paul's, on behalf of the Lon
don scholars, and his modest grace charmed no
less than his eloquence. At Oxford his oratori
cal pre-eminence was attested by the various
addresses he was chosen to deliver, but the
growing convictions of the truth of Catholicism
drove him from the University in 1569 on the
completion of the Proctorship. After a visit to
Ireland he was reconciled to the Church, re
paired to Douay, and there to wipe out by
penance the " mark of the beast," as he called
his Anglican deaconship, he entered the Society
of Jesus in Rome, 1573, and after seven years
in Prague he landed at Dover, 1580. For
thirteen months he preached, as occasion per
mitted, twice and thrice a day throughout Eng
land, and his fervent eloquence won innumerable
souls. After continuous hairbreadth escapes he
was arrested at Dame Yates' house at Lyford,
July n, 1581, and taken to the Tower.
"And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet
of the Highest : for thou shalt go before the face
of the Lord to prepare His ways." — LUKE i. 76.
28
January 17
PRAYER IN SUFFERING
B. EDMUND CAMPION, S.J., 1581
IN the Tower, besides the ordinary miseries in
cident to that kind of imprisonment, being
regarded for his controversial writings as well
as for his eloquence as in a special way the
Pope's champion, he was divers times racked,
to force out of him whose houses he had fre
quented, by whom he was relieved, whom he
had reconciled, and such like. At his first
racking, they went no further with him ; but
afterwards, when they saw he could not be won
to divulge any matter, at least in religion, which
was the thing they most desired, they thought
it good to forge matter of treason against him,
and framed their demands accordingly ; about
which he was so cruelly torn and rent upon the
torture, the two last times, that he told a friend
of his, that found means to speak with him, that
he thought they meant to make him away in
that manner. Before he went to the rack, he
used to kneel at the rack-house door, to com
mend himself to God's mercy ; and upon the
rack he called continually upon God, repeating
often the holy name of Jesus. He most charitably
forgave his tormentors and the causers thereof.
His keeper asking him the next day how he felt
his hands and feet, he answered, " Not ill, be
cause not at all."
" When I am weak, then am I powerful." —
2 COR. xii. 10.
29
January 18
LIFTING THE FEEBLE HANDS
B. EDMUND CAMPION, S.J., 1581
AT the Bar he was arraigned with the others
and commanded, as custom is in such cases, to
hold up his hand ; but both his arms being
pitifully benumbed by his often cruel racking
before, and he having them wrapped in a furred
.cuff, he was not able to lift his hand so high as
the rest did, and as required of him ; but one
of his companions, kissing his hand so abused
for the confession of Christ, took off his cuff, so
he lifted up his arm as high as he could, and
pleaded not guilty as all the rest did. " I pro
test," said he, " before God and the holy angels,
before heaven and earth, before the world and
this Bar whereat I stand, which is but a small
resemblance of the terrible judgment of the
next life, that I am not guilty of any part of
the treason contained in the indictment, or of
any other treason whatsoever." Then lifting
up his voice he added, " Is it possible to find
twelve men so wicked and void of all conscience
in this city or land, that will find us guilty to
gether of this one crime, divers of us never
meeting or knowing one the other, before our
bringing to this Bar?"
" Therefore lift up the hands which hang
down and the feeble knees." — HEB. xii. 12.
January 19
BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM
B. EDMUND CAMPION, S.J., 1581
" WHERETO, then, appertaineth these objections
of treason ? He barely affirmeth ; we flatly deny
them. But let us examine them ; how will they
urge us ? We fled our country ; what of that ?
The Pope gave us entertainment ; how then ?
We are Catholics ; what is that to the purpose ?
We persuaded the people ; what folio weth ? We
are therefore traitors. We deny the sequel ;
this is no more necessary than if a sheep had
been stolen, and to accuse me you should frame
this reason : my parents are thieves, my com
panions suspected persons, myself an evil liver,
and one that loveth mutton ; therefore I stole
the sheep. Who seeth not but these be odious
circumstances to bring a man in hatred with
the jury, and no necessary matter to conclude
him guilty ? Yea, but we seduced the Queen's
subjects from their allegiance to her Majesty !
What can be more unlikely ? We are dead men
to the world ; we only travelled for souls ; we
touched neither state nor policy ; we had no
such commission. Where was, then, our se
ducing ? Nay, but we reconciled them to the
Pope. Nay, then, what reconciliation can there
be to him, since reconciliation is only due to
God ? Wherefore we pray that better proof
may be used, and that our lives may not be
prejudiced by conjectures."
"Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil,
bear witness of the evil, but if well, why smitest
thou me?" — JOHN xyiii. 23.
31
January 20
TRIBUTE TO CAESAR
B. EDMUND CAMPION, S.J., 1581
" HER Majesty herself and the commissioners
as well urged me on the point of supremacy,
and as to whether the Pope might lawfully
excommunicate her ! I acknowledged her
Highness as my governess and Sovereign : I
acknowledged her Majesty de facto et de jure
to be Queen : I confessed an obedience due
to the Crown as my temporal head and primate.
This I said then, so I say now. I will willingly
pay to her Majesty what is hers, yet I must
pay to God what is His. As to whether the
excommunication, admitting that it were of
effect, would discharge me of my allegiance,
I said this was a( dangerous question, and they
that demanded this demanded my blood. If
I would admit the Pope's authority, and then
he should excommunicate her, I would then do
as God would give me grace ; but I never
admitted any such matter, neither ought I to
be wrested with any such suppositions. To
conclude. They are not matters of fact ;'they
be not in the trial of the country ; the jury
ought not to take any notice of them ; for
though they are doubtless very discreet men,
and trained in debates pertinent to their own
calling, yet they are laymen, they are temporal,
and unfit judges to decide so deep a question."
" Render therefore to Caesar the things that
are Caesar's, and to God the things that are
God's."— MATT. xxii. 21.
32
January 21
FORTIFIED BY EXAMPLE
t Yen. REYNOLDS, Pr., and Yen. ROE, O.S.B.r
1641
BOTH were converts, Reynolds from Oxford,
Roe from Cambridge. Reynolds was ordained
at Seville, and returned to England about 1590.
For fifty years he laboured in the Mission, was
banished, imprisoned, sentenced, reprieved,
then suddenly ordered for execution. He was
very infirm from age, his great size, and many
sufferings. When the summons came he
earnestly prayed for fortitude. Roe became
a Benedictine at Dieulwart, Lorraine, was
there ordained, braved all dangers on the
English Mission, was banished, and finally
imprisoned for seventeen years. To add to the
miseries of his long confinement, 'he suffered
from the stone, and endured cheerfully two
operations. He was at last led out to execu
tion with Father Reynolds. Lying down on
the hurdle by his side, he felt his pulse, and
jokingly asked him how he felt. " In good
heart," said Father Reynolds, and blessed God
for giving him a companion of such undaunted
courage. Their way to Tyburn was like a
triumphial procession. The Catholics threw
themselves on their knees, begged their bless
ings, and kissed their hands and garments.
Thus both together won their crowns.
"A brother helped by a brother is like a
strong city." — PROV. xviii. 19.
33 C
January 22
SCRUPLES CURED
t Ven. WILLIAM PATTENSON, Pr., 1592
BORN in the county of Durham, he entered
Douay College, was ordained priest in 1587,
and went upon the English Mission in 1589.
After two years' work he came up to London
to consult some fellow-priests, and so rid him
self of certain scruples of conscience with which
he was much troubled. He stayed in London
at Mr. Laurence Mompesson's house (a Catholic
gentleman) in Clerkenwell, where was in hiding
another priest, Mr. James Young. On the
third Sunday of Advent, after both had said
Mass, the pursuivant suddenly entered the
house. Mr. Young escaped through the hiding-
place, but Mr. Pattenson was caught in at
tempting to follow him. He was tried at the
Old Bailey and condemned. The night before
his execution he was put down into the con
demned hole with seven malefactors. In his
zeal for their salvation all his own troubles,
interior scruples, and fear of impending death
vanished ; he gave himself up entirely to their
conversion, and spoke with such effect that six
out of the seven were reconciled by him, and
died the next morning professing the Catholic
faith. The persecutors were so enraged at the
conversion of these men, that they caused the
martyr to be cut down immediately, so that he
was alive and conscious while being cut open.
"According to the multitude of my sorrows
in my heart, Thy consolations have given joy
to my soul." — PS. xciii. 19.
34
January 23
THE PRACTICE OF THE LAW
Yen. NICOLAS WOODFEN, Pr., 1586
His true name was Nicolas Wheeler. He was
born at Leominster, Herefordshire, and in the
school of that town he was esteemed highly for
his abilities. He performed his priest's studies
at Douay and Rheims, and was ordained at the
latter town, March 25, 1581. He was sent on
the English Mission the following June, and
arrived in London in a state of great necessity,
having, as he said, no money to buy food and
scarce clothes for his back. A fellow-priest,
Father Davis, whose address he found, supplied
his immediate needs and introduced him to
Catholics, and by the help of Mr. Francis
Brown, Lord Montague's brother, a lodging
was found for him at a haberdasher's in Fleet
Street. There,disguised as a lawyer,he laboured
with great profit among the members of the
Inns of Court, for he had a handsome presence,
affable and courteous manners, and great power
of attraction. But Morris, the pursuivant, found
him out and forced him to flee. He was again
nearly caught with Father Davis in his next
hiding-place at Sir T. Tresham's house at Hox-
ton, but his hour was not yet come. The third
time, however, he fell into the pursuivant's hands
he was tried, sentenced, and suffered with great
constancy at Tyburn, January 21, 1586.
" For all the law is fulfilled in one word: thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." — GAL. v. 14.
35
January 24
VICTIMS OF PERJURY
t Ven. IRELAND, S.J., and JOHN GROVE, L.,
1679
IRELAND was of gentle birth. His uncle was
killed in the King's service and his relations
assisted Charles II to escape after his defeat at
Worcester. Educated at St. Omers, he entered
the Society of Jesus, went on the English Mis
sion in 1677, and was apprehended as a con
spirator in the pretended Gates Plot. Gates
swore that he had been present with Ireland
at a meeting held in August to kill the King.
Ireland proved by the evidence of above forty
witnesses, many of them of note, that he was in
the country, when Gates swore he was in Lon
don, at the time named, yet he was condemned
to death. Ireland said he pardoned all who had
a hand in his death, that if he were guilty of
treason he would be bound then to declare it,
or the name of any accomplice, even of his own
father. " As for ourselves," he said, " we would
beg a thousand pardons both of God and man ;
but seeing that we cannot be believed we must
commit ourselves to the mercy of Almighty God,
and hope to find pardon through Christ."
After begging the prayers of all Catholics, he
was executed at Tyburn, with John Grove, a
Catholic layman, whose innocence was likewise
fully proved, January 14, 1679. The cheerful
patience and constancy of both martyrs aston
ished the beholders.
"A false witness shall not be unpunished, and
he that speaketh lies shall perish." — PROV. xix. 9.
36
January 25
SAUL, OTHERWISE PAUL
Ven. LAWRENCE HUMPHREY, L., 1591
BORN and brought up as a Protestant, he studied
the books of his religion earnestly, and at the
age of eighteen considered himself a master in
controversy and was very anxious to dispute
with some Catholic priest. Father Stanney was
applied to, and appointed a place and date for
the conference. Having first preached on the
Real Presence, for the day was within the Octave
of Corpus Christi, he saw Humphrey in private,
and in a short time reconciled him to the Church.
Though his life had been blameless before the
world, he was now filled with contrition for his
past sins, and an ardent desire to spread that
faith which he had so strongly opposed. He
visited the Catholic prisoners, catechised the
ignorant, and prepared schismatics for their
conversion. Falling grievously ill he said in the
height of fever that the Queen was a heretic,
and for this he was imprisoned in Winchester
jail and sentenced to death at the age of twenty-
one. On mounting the ladder he made the
sign of the Cross on the rounds and was mocked
by the hangman for so doing. Humphrey
smiled in return, and the hangman, furious,
boxed his ear. The martyr meekly replied,
" Why do you treat me thus ? I never gave you
cause." He suffered at Winchester, 1591.
" I will shew him how great things he must
suffer for My name's sake.'' — ACTS ix. 16.
37
January 26
THE SMILE OF ROYALTY
B. THOMAS MORE, L.
HENRY VIII took such pleasure in More's
company that he would sometimes upon the
sudden come to his house at Chelsea to be
merry with him, whither on a time unlocked for
he came to dinner, and after dinner, in a fair
garden of his, walked with him by the space of
an hour holding his arms about his neck. Of
all of which favours he made no more account
than a deep wise man should do. Wherefore,
when that after the King's departure his son-in-
law, Mr. William Roper, rejoicingly came unto
him saying these words, " Sir, how happy are
you whom the King hath so familiarly enter
tained, as I have never seen him do to any other
except Cardinal Wolsey, whom I have seen his
Grace walk withal arm in arm," Sir Thomas
More answered in this sort : " I thank our
Lord, son, I find his Grace my very good Lord
indeed, and I believe he doth as singularly
favour me as he doth any subject within this
realm. Howbeit, Son Roper, I have no cause
to be proud thereof, for if my head could win
him one castle in France, it should not fail to
serve his turn."
" It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than
to trust in princes." — Ps. cxvii. 9.
January 27
MASS UNDER PENAL LAWS
LETTER OF A MISSIONARY PRIEST
"WHEN a priest comes to their houses they
first salute him as a stranger unknown to them,
and then they take him to an inner chamber
where an oratory is set up, when all fall on their
knees and beg his blessing. If he says he must
go to-morrow, as he usually does, for it is
dangerous to stay longer, they all prepare for
Confession that evening. The next morning
they hear Mass and receive Holy Communion ;
then after preaching, and giving his blessing a
second time, the priest departs, conducted by
one of the young gentlemen (that is, of the
Catholic Association). No one is to be found
to complain of the length of the Services. If
the Mass does not last nearly an hour many are
discontented. If six, eight, or more Masses are
said in the same place, and in the same day
(as often happens when there is a meeting of
priests), the same congregation will assist at all.
When they can get priests they confess every
week. Quarrels are scarce known amongst
them. Disputes are almost always left to the
arbitration of the priest. They do not willingly
intermarry with heretics, nor will they pray
with them, nor do they like to have any dealing
with them."
"Thou hast prepared a table before me against
them that afflict me. Thou hast anointed my
head with oil, and my chalice which inebriateth
me how goodly is it." — Ps. xxii. 5.
39
January 28
DIVINE VENGEANCE ON HERESY
Ven. ARTHUR BELL, O.S.F., on the Scaffold
" DEAR COUNTRYMEN, give ear to me, and as
you desire to be delivered from your present
miseries put an end to your sins ; for without
doubt your enormous crimes are the cause of
the calamities under which you groan. But
above all I exhort you to renounce heresy, in
which you have been so long engaged ; for this
(with grief I speak it) has cut you off like putrid
members from the body of Christ, and like dead
branches from the tree of His Church. But if
you resolve to persist in loving darkness more
than light, long afflictions will attend you, and
certainly many calamities and miseries threaten
this city and the whole kingdom unless they
desist from persecuting priests and Catholics.
See and consider, I beseech you, the afflictions
with which God has begun visibly to punish
you, and be assured that all these punishments
are tokens of His love, and a proof that He
would not destroy you but as it were by con
straint. I repeat, these chastisements, civil
wars, and calamities are inflicted to bring you
from shipwreck into the haven of the Catholic
Church. Abuse, then, no longer His mercy, nor
force him to destroy you by obstinacy in your
evils."
" Know thou and see that it is an evil and a
bitter thing to have left the Lord thy God." —
JER. ii. 19.
40
January 29
SUPERNATURAL SYMPATHIES
Ven. EDWARD STRANSHAM, Pr., 1586
HE was born of good Catholic parents in the
parish of St. Mary Magdalene, Oxford ; was
educated in St. John's College in that univer
sity, and took his B.A. degree 1576. Shortly
after this he left the University, was reconciled
to the Church, entered Douay, and was ordained
priest at Rheims in December 1580. He was
sent on the English Mission in June 1581, and
was soon famous as a preacher ; but he had a
particular gift for winning the souls of young
men, and in July 1583 returned to Rheims with
a band of ten Oxford undergraduates, five of
whom were from Trinity College, viz. John
Atkins, William Morgan, John and Walter
Owen, and Richard Blount. After remaining
some time at Rheims with Cardinal Allen, who
loved him much, he returned to labour in
London, and lived in constant peril of arrest,
but having great presence of mind he effected
wonderful escapes. He had bad health, being
far gone in consumption ; but he never ceased
to mortify himself, and generally wore a hair
shirt. He had a great devotion to the Divine
Office, and rebuked a priest for saying it in
bed, but his corrections were always made with
tact. He suffered at Tyburn, January 21, 1586.
" I became all things to all men that I might
save all." — i COR. ix. 22.
January 30
A TALK WITH A REFORMER
Ven. RALPH SHERWIN, Pr., Dec. i
HE wrote at Geneva when on his way from
Rome to England with FF. Campion, Persons,
and others, as follows : —
. " Well, our inn being taken, forthwith Father
Persons and Mr. Paschal, with Mr. Patrick,
his man (Campion disguised as a servant), and
myself, went out to talk with Beza, whom we
found in his house, and there saluted him,
showing that passing that way we thought
good to see him, for that he was a man talked
of in all the world. And after such speech
Father Persons asked how hisj Church was
governed ; who said by equality in the ministry,
and that they were nine, and that every one
ruled his week. Then it was said that we had
bishops in England, and that the Queen was
the continual head. He answered shamefully
that he knew not that, but after these assertions,
though much declining, insinuated that he liked
not that ; yet, being urged, said, as they com
monly shift, that they differed in discipline, not
in doctrine. All this while Mr. Campion stood
waiting with his hat in his hand, facing out the
doting, heretical fool. After this he told some
false, bad news, and then came strangers with
letters, and so we were forced to leave."
" A man that is a heretic avoid, knowing that
he that is such a one is subverted and sinneth,
being condemned by his own judgment." —
TlTUS iii. 10, ii.
42
January 31
THE PUNISHMENT OF ACHAB
Father PETO'S PROPHECY
IN May 1533, preaching before Henry VIII
at Greenwich, on the history of Achab, Peto
tried to persuade him to separate from Anne
Boleyn, and applied to the king the prophet's
threat. " I am that Micheas," he said, "whom
thou wilt hate, because I must tell thee truly
that this marriage is unlawful. I know that I
shall eat the bread of affliction and drink the
water of sorrow, yet because our Lord hath put
it into my mouth I must speak it. There are
many other preachers who will persuade you
otherwise, feeding thy folly and frail affections
upon hope of their own worldly promotion, and
by that means betraying thy soul, thy honour,
and thy posterity to obtain fat benefices, become
rich abbots and get ecclesiastical dignities.
These, I say, are the four hundred prophets
who in the spirit of lying seek to deceive thee.
But take good heed lest being seduced thou
hast found Achah's punishment, and have thy
blood licked up by the dogs." From Henry's
dead body, though embalmed, there issued,
owing to a fall in the coffin, a quantity of blood
and corrupt matter, which was licked up by a
great black dog, which the guards tried in vain
to kill.
" Where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth
shall the dogs lick thy blood, even thine." —
3 KINGS xxi. 19.
43
February i
GROUNDS FOR FAITH
t Ven. HENRY MORSE, S.J., 1645
" I AM come hither to die for my religion, for
that religion which is professed by the Catholic
Roman Church, founded by Christ, established
by the Apostles, propagated through all ages
by a hierarchy always visible to this day,
grounded on the testimonies of Holy Scriptures,
upheld by the authority of Fathers and Councils,
out of which, in fine, there can be no hopes of
salvation. Time was when I was a Protestant,
being then a student of the law in the Inns of
Court in town, till, being suspicious of the truth
of my religion, I went abroad into Flanders,
and upon full conviction renounced my former
errors, and was reconciled to the Church of
Rome, the mistress of all Churches. Upon my
return to England I was committed to prison
for refusing to take the oath of supremacy, and
banished. After seven years I returned to
England as a priest, and devoted myself to
the poor and the plague-stricken." " No self-
glorification," here interrupted the Sheriff. " I
will glory only in God," continued the martyr,
"who has pleased to allow me to seal the
Catholic faith with my blood, and I pray that
my death may atone for the sins of this nation,
for which end and in testimony of the one true
Catholic faith confirmed by miracles now as
ever, I willing die." — Tyburn, February I, 1645.
" Thy testimonies, O Lord, are made exceed
ingly credible." — Ps. xcii. 5.
44
February 2
A MASS OF THANKSGIVING
Ven. HENRY MORSE, S.J., 1645
ON February I, 1645, the day of his execution,
he celebrated, early in the morning, a votive
Mass of the Blessed Trinity in thanksgiving for
the great favour God was pleased to do him in
calling him to the crown of martyrdom, having
first, according to custom, recited the Litanies
of our Blessed Lady and of all the Saints, for
the conversion of England. After which he
made an exhortation to the Catholics who were
present, and, having rested for an hour, said the
Canonical Hours, and then visited his fellow-
prisoners, and took leave of them with a cheer
fulness that was extraordinary. The little space
that remained he employed in prayer with a
religious of his order, till, being admonished that
his time was come, he cast himself on his knees,
and, with hands and eyes lifted up to Heaven,
gave hearty thanks to Almighty God for His
infinite mercy towards him, and offered himself
without reserve as a sacrifice to His Divine
Majesty. " Come, my sweetest Jesus," said he,
"that I may now be inseparably united to Thee
in time and eternity : welcome ropes, hurdles,
gibbets, knives, and butchery, welcome for the
love of Jesus my Saviour." At nine he was
drawn on a sledge by four horses to Tyburn.
" What shall I render to the Lord for all the
things that he hath rendered to me ? I will
take the chalice of salvation, and look upon the
name of the Lord." — Ps. cxv. 3, 4.
45
February 3
WEEP NOT FOR ME
t B. JOHN NELSON, S.J., 1578
UPON Monday, February 3, 1577, being the day
of his martyrdom, he came very early, before
day, up to the higher part of the prison ; where
as, from Saturday till then, he had been kept
in a low dungeon. Two of his nearest kinsmen
coming to him found him earnest at his prayers
with his hands joined together and lifted up,
insomuch that the other prisoners there pre
sent did both mark it and wonder at it much.
When they had talked awhile together, and he
saw them so full of sorrow that they had much
ado to abstain from weepin'g, yet for all that he
was nothing moved himself, neither gave any
sign or appearance of sorrow either in voice or
countenance, but rebuked them, saying that he
looked for some comfort and consolation of
them in that case, and not by their tears to be
occasioned to grieve ; willing them further to
weep for their sins, and not for him, for he had
a sure confidence that all should go well with
him. When his kinsmen took their last farewell,
they fell into such immoderate lamentations that
he was somewhat moved, but repressed nature,
and dismissed them. He suffered at Tyburn, the
second of the seminarist martyrs, and was ad
mitted into the Society of Jesus before his death.
" But Jesus turning to them said, Daughters
of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but for your
children."— LUKE xxiii. 28.
46
February 4
GALL TO DRINK
B. JOHN NELSON, S.J., 1578
BORN, in 1534, of an ancient Yorkshire family,
he was nearly forty years of age when he went
to the newly-established college at Douay and
was ordained, and of his four brothers two
followed his example. He returned to England
1577, and after a year's ministry was called upon
to exorcise a possessed person. The evil spirit,
when it was cast out, told him that it would cost
him his life. He was apprehended, Sunday,
December i, as he was saying the next day's
Matins. He refused to take the oath of supre
macy, declared repeatedly that the Pope was
the Supreme Head of the Church and that the
new religion set up in England was both schis-
matical and heretical as a voluntary departure
from Catholic unity. For this statement he was
condemned as guilty of high treason. He had
always held that England would never be re
stored to the Church save by blood-shedding,
and that his own life would be taken for that
cause. He received his sentence therefore with
great calmness and prepared himself for death.
He was confined in a filthy underground dun
geon infested with vermin. The jailer's wife
offered him some wine, but he refused it, saying
he would prefer water or rather vinegar and
gall, to more closely follow his Lord.
" And they gave Him wine mingled with gall,
which, when He had tasted, He would not
drink." — MATT. xvii. 34.
47
February 5
THE BREAD OF THE STRONG
B. JOHN NELSON, S.J., 1578
THE thought of the joy and alacrity with which
the martyrs suffered so comforted him, that he
doubted not he himself would be consoled by
God in the midst of his agony. And surely this
courage and willingness to die came from this :
that on the Thursday before his arraignment and
death he had cleansed his conscience by confes
sion, and had fortified himself by receiving the
Blessed Sacrament of the altar. A priest, his
friend, wishing to be communicated by Nelson,
fixed upon Candlemas day, because of the solem
nity of the Feast, but, reflecting that such festivals
are more subject to suspicion, they concluded to
defer it till the day after Candlemas ; but Mr.
Nelson wished rather to anticipate the Feast
and to communicate upon the Thursday before,
which was done : though, at that time, neither he
nor any of his friends suspected that he should
so shortly come to his martyrdom. When, be
hold ! the very next day after, word was brought
him that he was to be arraigned on the morrow,
and should be undoubtedly condemned if he did
not revoke his former words, and so indeed it
fell out. Thus by God's special providence he
had chosen the Thursday before the Feast ; for
otherwise, he must have died without the sacred
viaticum.
" And he walked in the strength of that food to
Horeb the Mount of God."— 3 KINGS xxx. 8.
48
February 6
THE SUNAMITESS REWARDED
MARGARET POWELL, 1642
OF good birth, she was reduced to great poverty
through her sufferings for the faith. Her chief
devotion was ministering to the priests in prison,
and, though her husband was a Protestant, she
generally managed to maintain one in her house.
It was under her roof in the city of London that
Father Bullaker was seized while saying Mass,
and Margaret and her boy, aged twelve, who
was serving the Mass, were taken with him. At
her trial, in October 1642, being threatened with
death for her religion, she expressed her joy at
the prospect of laying down her life for the faith
in which she had been born, and which she
hoped with God's mercy to bear unspotted to
the grave. When the judge, who was a Puritan,
urged her to think of her soul and her family and
embrace the national religion, instead of dying
for papistical superstition, she replied that Par
liament must first choose what that religion
was to be, for at present it was a matter of dis
pute. She was sent back to prison, and there, on
hearing that Father Bullaker was condemned to
death, but that her sentence was deferred, she
burst into tears ; yet quickly recovering her
self, she offered her new lease of life to God as
obediently as she had accepted death.
" Now there was a great woman there who
detained him (Eliseus) to eat bread, and as he
often passed that way, he turned into her house
to eat bread." — 4 KINGS iv. 8.
49 D
February 7
TRUE TO A TRUST
f B. THOMAS SHERWOOD, L., 1578
His parents both suffered much for the faith.
His mother was a sister of Mr. Francis Tregian,
in whose house B. Cuthbert Mayne was taken.
Their son Thomas, one of fourteen children,
followed his father's trade of draper, intending
however to cross to Douay and become a priest.
One day when walking in the streets of London
he was seized on the cry of " Stop the traitor ! "
raised by a youth Martin Tregony, a virulent
papist-hunter. His mother, Lady Tregony, was
a pious Catholic, and Sherwood frequently
visited her, and Martin suspected him of assist
ing in having Mass said in her house. At his
condemnation Sherwood declared that the
Pope and not the Queen was the head of the
Church in England, and was then most cruelly
racked to discover where he had heard Mass.
He could not be induced, however, to betray or
bring any man into danger. After this he was
cast into a filthy, dark dungeon, swarming with
loathsome and ferocious rats, and only left it
twice during three months to be again tortured
on the rack. He had lost the use of his limbs,
was starving, and searched with pain, but no
compromising words passed his lips. He was
executed at Tyburn, February 7, 1578, aged
twenty-seven.
" Keep that which is committed to thy trust."
— 2 TIM. vi. 20.
February 8
PRAYERS WITH TEARS
B. JOHN FISHER, Card. B., 1535
" HE never omitted so much as one collect of
his daily service, which he used commonly to
say to himself alone, without the help of any
chaplain, not in such speed or hasty manner to
be at an end, as many will do, but in most
reverent and devout manner, so distinctly and
tractably pronouncing every word, that he
seemed a very devourer of heavenly food, never
satiated nor filled therewith. Insomuch that
talking on a time with a Carthusian monk, who
much commended his zeal and diligent pains in
compiling his book against Luther, he answered
again, saying that he wished that time of writ
ing had been spent in prayer, thinking that
prayer would have done more good and was of
more merit.
"And to help this devotion he caused a
great hole to be digged through the wall of his
church at Rochester, whereby he might the
more commodiously have prospect into the
church at Mass and Evensong times. When
he himself used to say Mass, as many times he
used to do, if he was not letted by some urgent
and great cause, ye might then perceive in him
such earnest devotion that many times the tears
would fall from his cheeks."
" With a strong cry and tears offering up
prayers. " — HEB. v. 7.
51
February 9
THE STONES OF ISRAEL
B. JOHN FISHER, Card. Bv 1535
AFTER reminding our Lord of His promise that
the Gospel should be preached throughout the
world as a testimony to all nations, he recalls
how the Apostles were but soft and yielding clay
till they were baked hard by the fire of the
Holy Ghost, and then offered a prayer to be
fulfilled in himself. " So, good Lord, do now
in like manner again with Thy Church militant,
change and make the soft and slippery earth
into hard stones. Set in Thy Church strong
and mighty pillars, that may suffer and endure
great labours — watching, poverty, thirst, hunger,
cold, and heat — which also shall not fear the
threatenings of princes, persecution, neither
death, but always persuade and think with
themselves to suffer, with a good will, slanders,
shame, and all kinds of torments for the glory
and laud of Thy Holy Name. By this manner,
good Lord, the truth of Thy Gospel shall be
preached throughout the world. . . . Oh ! if it
would please our Lord God to show this great
goodness and mercy in our days, the memorial
of His so doing ought, of very right, to be left
in perpetual writing, never to be forgotten of
all our posterity, that every generation might
love and worship Him time without end."
" His bow rested upon the strong, and the
bands of his arms and his hands were loosed,
by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob, thence
forth he came forth a pastor, the Stone of
Israel."— GEN. xlix. 24.
52
February 10
FATHER OF THE POOR
B. JOHN FISHER, Card. B., 1535
To poor sick persons he was a physician, to the
lame he was a staff, to poor widows an advocate,
to orphans a tutor, and to poor travellers a host.
Wheresoever he lay, either at Rochester or
elsewhere, his order was to inquire where any
poor sick folks lay near him, which after he
once knew, he would diligently visit them.
And when he saw any of them likely to die
he would preach to them, teaching them the
way to die, with such godly persuasions that
for the most part he never departed till the sick
persons were well satisfied and contented with
death. Many times it was his chance to come
to such poor houses as, for want of chimnies,
were unbearable for the smoke, yet himself
would there sit three or four hours together when
none of his servants were able to abide in the
house. And in some other poor houses where
stairs were wanting, he would never disdain to
climb up a ladder for such a good purpose.
And when he had given them such ghostly
comfort as he thought expedient for their souls,
he would at his departure leave behind him his
charitable alms, giving charge to his steward
daily to prepare meat for them if they were poor.
" Because I had delivered the poor man that
cried out : and the fatherless that had no helper,
the blessing of him that was ready to perish
came upon me and I comforted the heart of the
widow." —JOB xxix. 12.
53
February n
SORROW TURNED TO JOY
Ven. GEORGE HAYDOCK, Pr., 1584
HE was the son of Verran Haydock, the repre
sentative of an ancient Catholic family of Cottam
Hall, Lancashire ; his mother, a Westby of
Westby, York. When on her deathbed, to con
sole her sorrowing husband, she pointed, with
the infant George in her arms, to the motto em
broidered at the foot of the bed, " Tristitia vestra
in gaudium vertetur." But the joy prophesied
was not to be of this world. The widowed
husband, seeing how persecution was ravaging
the Church in England, to offer some reparation
made over his property to his son William, and
went over to Douay with the two others,
Richard and George, all three to be trained for
the priesthood. The father became procurator
of the Douay College in England, and filled the
office with great success. Richard after varied
missionary work died in Rome, and George
returned to England as a priest in February
1 58 1, and was betrayed on arriving by an old
tenant of his father's who had apostatised. His
aged father on the previous All Souls' Eve,
when about to say the accustomed midnight
Mass, seemed to see his son's severed head
above the altar, and to hear the words, " Tristitia
vestra, £c.," and, swooning away, gave back his
soul to God to find his sorrow turned to joy.
"Your sorrow shall be turned into joy." —
JOHN xvi. 20.
54
February 1 2
A ROYAL HYPOCRITE
f Ven. GEORGE HAYDOCK, Pr., 1584
ARRESTED as a priest in February 1582 in St.
Paul's Churchyard, he was confined in the
Tower, where he was robbed of all his money,
and suffered much from the hardships of his
imprisonment, and from a lingering disease that
he had contracted in Italy. On February 7,
1 583, he was sentenced to death for having been
made priest by the Pope's authority beyond the
seas. He attributed this happy event to the
prayers of St. Dorothy, Virgin and Martyr,
whose day it was, and he marked it in the
Calendar of his Breviary, which he left to Dr.
Creagh, Archbishop of Armagh, then a prisoner
in the Tower. But to his sorrow he heard that
the Queen had changed her mind, and that he
was not to suffer. His Confessor, however, a
man of great experience, encouraged him by
the assurance that these rumours were indus
triously spread abroad only to represent the
Queen as averse from these cruelties, and to
remove any odium from her, as if they were ex
torted from her against her inclinations. The
falseness of the Queen's reported leniency was
proved by the event. Father Haydockj without
a sign of any pardon, was hung at Tyburn, and
the whole butchery performed February 12,
1584.
" They spoke indeed peacefully to me : and
speaking in anger of the earth they devised
guilt." — Ps. xxxiv. 20.
55
February 13
A FRIEND OF PUBLICANS AND
SINNERS
Ven. JAMES FENN, Pr., 1584
ORDAINED priest when a widower of mature
age, he laboured first in his own county, Somer
setshire. He was soon apprehended, and to
complete his disgrace was exposed to the people,
chained and fettered, on a market-day. Re
moved to the Marshalsea, where his priesthood
was unknown, he spent his time in strengthening
the Catholics, administering the Sacraments and
reconciling Protestants to the Church. The
main objects of his charity, however, were the
criminals and pirates under sentence of death.
These he visited and exhorted with great affec
tion to make good use of the time by repenting
of their sins and seeking pardon through the
power Christ had left with His Church. Many
responded to his call, among them one noted
pirate, till then in despair at the load of his sins,
cast himself at his feet and desired to be recon
ciled. This was done, and so staunch was this
convert that he absolutely refused the prayers
and communion of the Protestant minister, and
on the scaffold publicly professed his faith. As
Father Fenn was being laid on the hurdle his
little daughter Frances came weeping to take
leave of him. The good man lifted his pinioned
hands as far as he could and gave her his bless
ing, and was drawn to Tyburn, Feb. 12, 1584.
"Behold a glutton and a wine-bibber, the
friend of publicans and sinners." — LUKE vii. 34.
56
February 14
PATIENCE IN THE APOSTOLATE
Ven. JOHN NUTTER, Pr., 1584
BORN at Burnley, Lancashire, educated at Ox
ford, he became a Catholic and was ordained at
Rheims, and embarked for the English Mission
in 1582. Being taken ill of a violent fever, he
was put ashore at Dunwich, Suffolk. The ship
shortly afterwards foundered, and a minister, in
search of booty from the wreck, to his dis
appointment secured only a bag containing
Catholic books. These, however, raised sus
picions that the sick man was a priest. Father
Nutter was apprehended, fettered, and clogged,
and, notwithstanding his weakness and pains,
conveyed over rugged ways in a jolting waggon
to London. At the Marshalsea he recovered
his health and toiled indefatigably for his
fellow-prisoners. His success was great, but his
apparent failures were even more remarkable.
However stubborn or perverse a soul might
prove, he never would despond nor desist, but
persevered with prayers and instructions till
grace conquered. There was one with whom
the man of God took much pains who proved
obdurate to the end ; yet the spectacle of the
martyr's death so moved him that he resolved
to live in that Church for which the holy priest
had died with such constancy. Father Nutter
was executed at Tyburn, February 12, 1584.
" Thou, O Man of God, pursue justice, charity,
patience. Fight the good fight."— I TlM. vi.
II, 12.
57
February 15
INJUSTICE ENTHRONED
Yen. JOHN MUNDEN, Pr., 1584
HE was born at Maperton, in Dorsetshire, was
educated at Oxford, and became a Fellow of
New College, 1562. The fact of his being a
Catholic, however, getting known, he was de
prived of his fellowship in 1566, went abroad to
Rheims and to Rome, and returned a priest to
England in 1582. About the end of February
that year, as he was going up from Winchester
to London, he was met on Hounslow Heath by
a lawyer, named Hammond, who, knowing him
to be a priest, delivered him to the Justices of
Staines, who sent him to Sir Francis Walsing-
ham, the Secretary of State. The Secretary
inveighed against the Seminarists, the Rheims
translations of the New Testament, and ques
tioned him, among other matters, as to whether
the Queen was Sovereign both de jure and de
facto. To this, on Munden replying that he
did not rightly understand these terms, Wal-
singham gave him a stunning blow on his head.
He was then examined by Popham, the Attorney
General, who accused him of having led an
immoral life in his own country, and loaded him
with fresh insults. After a twelvemonth's im
prisonment, he suffered with FF. Haydock,
Fenn, Hemerford, and Nutter. Being the last,
he helped them by his prayers on earth as they
him by theirs in heaven. — February 12, 1584.
" He that justifieth the wicked, and he that
condemneth the just, both are an abomination
before God." — PROV. xvii. 5.
58
February i 6
WITH THE PLAGUE-STRICKEN
t Yen. HENRY MORSE, S.J., 1645
BORN of a gentleman's family in Suffolk, he
was converted, as a law student in London at
the age of twenty-three, and went abroad to
Douay. Returning to England as priest in
1624, he was apprehended on landing at New
castle, and cast into prison at York. Being
already in ill-health, he suffered much from
want and the filth of the place for three years.
He found means, however, during this time to
be admitted to the Society of Jesus, and laboured
with great fruit among the felons and male
factors. Banished in 1627, he nearly died from
a malignant fever which he caught as camp
missioner among the English soldiers on the
Continent. In 1636 he returned to minister to
the plague-stricken in London. He visited the
infected under incredible difficulties. Harassed
by the pursuivants, suspected even by good
Catholics, he spent his time day and night, as
occasion called, in squalid and foetid garrets, and
in close contact with every form of the disease.
His self-sacrifice was rewarded by numerous
conversions. He was himself stricken with the
disease, but on recovery he immediately re
turned to his labours, to be again infected, and
when almost dead was brought back to life by
receipt of a letter ordering him to rest for awhile.
"The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the poor have the gospel preached to
them. And blessed is he who is not scandalised
in Me." — MATT. xi. 5, 6.
59
February 17
FROM CITY TO CITY
Ven. HENRY MORSE, S.J., 1645
SOON after his second recovery from the plague,
he was committed to Newgate for being a priest
and seducing his Majesty's subjects from the
religion by law established, and a certificate
was read in court showing that he had perverted
560 Protestants in and about the Parish of
St. Giles in the Fields. For being a priest he
was banished in 1641, and again he devoted
himself to the English soldiers quartered in
Flanders, till in 1643 ne returned to the North
of England, and there resumed his missionary
labours. Apprehended, he was lodged for the
night in a constable's house whose wife was a
Catholic and enabled him to escape. About
six weeks after, however, God's will that he
should suffer for His Name plainly appeared,
for he was recognised, arrested, and shipped
from Newcastle for London. At sea he endured
much from the barbarous usage of the crew,
and was nearly lost with the ship in a violent
storm. The martyr's crown was, however, to be
his. Arrived in London, he was committed to
Newgate, and, notwithstanding that his brother,
a Protestant, left no stone unturned to save his
life, he was sentenced to death for high treason
on his previous conviction of being a priest.
He suffered February i, 1644.
" And when they shall persecute in one city,
flee into another."— MATT. x. 23.
60
February 1 8
A DYING LIFE
t Ven. JOHN PIBUSH, Pr., 1601
BORN at Thirsk in Yorkshire, he made his
studies at Rheims, was ordained priest in 1587,
and sent to the English Mission in 1589. His
work lay in Gloucestershire, and after a year's
labours he was apprehended at Moreton le
Marsh and committed to Gloucester jail. Some
of the felons confined there having managed
to break a passage through the walls, Pibush,
like the other prisoners, made his escape. He
was apprehended, however, the next day, sent
up to London, tried, and condemned on account
of his priesthood. For seven years his execu
tion was postponed, and during the whole of
that period he was kept in the Queen's Bench
huddled up with the other prisoners, some of
them the worst of criminals. Through the
miseries of his imprisonment he contracted a
grievous infirmity, so that he was sometimes
for hours without sense or movement. His worst
sufferings, however, were from the brutality
and blasphemies of his fellow-prisoners. His
patience touched their hearts at last, and his
jailor gave him a separate cell, in which at
times he said Mass to the great comfort of his
soul. He was executed at St. Thomas' Water
ings, February 18, 1601.
" Why do you persecute me as God, and glut
yourselves with my flesh ? For I know that my
Redeemer liveth, and that in my flesh I shall
see my God." — JOB xix. 22, 25, 26.
61
February 19
IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH (i)
B. THOMAS MORE, L., 1535
GIVE me Thy grace, good God,
To set the world at naught ;
To set my mind fast on Thee and not to hang
Upon the blast of men's mouths;
To be content to be solitary ;
Not to long for worldly company ;
Little and little utterly to cast off the world,
And rid my mind of all business thereof;
Not to long to hear of any worldly things,
But that the hearing of worldly phantasies may
be to me displeasant.
Gladly to be thinking of God ;
Piteously to call for His help.
To lean unto the comfort of God ;
Busily to labour to love Him ;
To know mine own vility and wretchedness ;
To humble and meeken myself under the mighty
hand of God :
To bewail my sins past ;
For the purging of them patiently to suffer
adversity.
Gladly to bear my purgatory here ;
To be joyful of tribulations.
" To enlighten them that sit in darkness and
in the shadow of death." — LUKE i. 79.
62
February 20
IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH (2)
B. THOMAS MORE, L., 1535
GIVE me Thy grace, good God,
To walk the narrow way that leadeth to life ;
To bear the cross with Christ ;
To have the last things in remembrance ;
To have afore mine eye my death that is ever
at hand.
To make death no stranger to me,
To foresee and consider the everlasting fire
of hell.
To pray for pardon before the Judge
come ;
To have continually in mind the Passion that
Christ suffered for me.
For His benefits uncessantly to give Him
thanks.
To buy the time again that I have lost.
To abstain from vain confabulations.
To eschew light foolish mirth and glad-
. ness.
Recreations not necessary to cut off;
Of worldly substance, friends, liberty, life,
and all,
To set the loss at right naught for the winning
of Christ.
To think my worst enemies my best friends, for
the brethren of Joseph could never have
done him so much good with their love
and favour as they did him with their
malice and hatred.
" To direct our feet into the way of peace."
—LUKE i. 79.
63
February 21
A MARTYR POET
t Ven. ROBERT SOUTHWELL, S.J., 1595
OF an old Norfolk family, he was stolen by a
gipsy as an infant, but the theft was speedily
discovered, and Southwell proved his gratitude
to his rescuer by seeking out and converting
the woman who detected the theft when he
returned to England as a Jesuit priest in 1584.
He laboured on the Mission with great success,
in which his mastery of the English tongue
stood him in good service. His poems, in their
directness and force, their antitheses, and terse
ness, in beauty of conception and fidelity of
expression, rank with those of the finest Eliza
bethan sonneteers. His lyre, however, was
tuned to no mere amorous strains, but to show
how "virtue and verse suit together." The
divine beauty of Jesus and Mary, the opera
tions of grace, the deformity of sin, the nature
of contrition, contempt of the world, the brevity
of life, all these are told with a charm and a
grace in verses now little, alas ! known, and
are set forth with equal power in his letters.
He was shamefully betrayed by a woman, once
his penitent, was ten times tortured, and, after
three years' confinement in the Tower in a filthy
hole, was brought out, covered with vermin, at
the age of thirty-three to receive his martyr's
crown.
"The mercies of the Lord I will sing for
ever." — Ps. Ixxxviii. 2.
64
February 22
HONEY FROM THE ROCK
Ven. ROBERT SOUTHWELL, S.J., 1595
"WE have written many letters, but it seems
few have come to your hands. We sail in the
midst of these stormy waves with no small
danger ; from which nevertheless it has pleased
our Lord hitherto to deliver us. We have
altogether with much comfort renewed the
vows of the Society, according to our custom.
I seem to see the beginnings of a religious life
in England, of which we now sow the seeds
with tears, that others hereafter may with joy
carry in the sheaves to the heavenly granaries.
We have sung the Canticles of the Lord in a
strange land, and in this desert we have sucked
honey from the rock and oil from the hard stone.
But these joys ended in sorrow, and sudden
fears dispersed us into different places ; but in
fine we were more afraid than hurt, for we all
escaped. I, with another of ours seeking to
avoid Scylla, had like to have fallen into Charyb-
dis, but by the mercy of God we passed be
twixt them both. In another of mine I gave
an account of the martyrdoms of Mr. Bayles
and Mr. Horner, and of the edification the
people received from their holy ends. We
also, if not unworthy, look for the time when
our day may come."
" He set him upon high land, that he might
suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the
hardest stone." — DEUT. xxxii. 13.
65 E
February 23
IN THE PIT OF MISERY
Ven. SOUTHWELL ON HIS FELLOW-
CATHOLICS
THE labours to which they obliged them (the
imprisoned priests) were continual and im
moderate, and no less in sickness than in
health ; for with hard blows and stripes they
forced them to accomplish their task how weak
soever they were. Some are there hung up for
whole days by the hands, in such manner that
they can but just touch the ground with the tips
of their toes. In fine, they that are kept in that
prison truly live "in lacu miseriae et in luto
fecis." This Purgatory we are looking for
every hour, in which Topliffe and Young, the
two executioners of the Catholics, exercise all
kinds of torment. But come what pleaseth
God, we hope that we shall be able to bear all
in Him that strengthens us. In the meantime
we pray that they may be put to confusion who
work iniquity, and that the Lord may speak
peace to His people (Ps. xxiv. and Ixxxix.) that,
as the Royal Prophet says, His glory may dwell
in our land. I most humbly recommend myself
to the holy sacrifices of your Reverence and of
all our friends.
" My flesh is clothed with rottenness and the
filth of dust ; my skin is withered and drawn
together."— JOB vii. 5.
66
February 24
MORE PRECIOUS THAN LIFE
JAMES, EARL OF DERWENTWATER, 1716
HE took part in the rising of 1715, and on the
investment of Preston by the Government troops
voluntarily surrendered himself to save further
bloodshed. At his trial he pleaded the fact of
his surrender, with the hopes of mercy held out
to him, but was ^condemned to death on January
1716. On Monday, Feb. 20, Sydney, Under
Secretary for State, and the Duke of Rox
burgh, Keeper of the Privy Seal for Scotland,
visited him in the Tower, and in the King's
name offered him his life if he would acknow
ledge the Hanoverian title and conform to the
Protestant religion. The offer was tempting,
for the Earl was devotedly attached to his wife
and children, but his faith was dearer still, and
he unhesitatingly refused the offer. He now
prepared his soul with great care, made a
general confession, heard Mass and com
municated, abstained from all flesh meat, and
gave his mind wholly to the things of God.
The New Testament, the Imitation of Christ,
and St. Augustine's Confessions were his chief
books, and the Passion of his Lord was ever
before him. By these means he became wholly
detached, and accomplished his dreaded parting
with his wife by the mutual oblation of them
selves to God. He was executed on Tower
Hill, February 24, 1716.
" But I fear none of these things, neither do
I count my life more precious than myself that
I may consummate my course." — ACTS xx. 24.
67
February 25
THE CHANGES OF HERETICS
B. THOMAS MORE, L.
"TiNDALE conceals the meaning of words by
his translation. For ' priest' he substitutes
' senior,' for the ' Church ' the ' congregation,'
* confession ' becomes ' knowledge,' and * pen
ance ' 'repentance.' He changeth ' grace'
into ' favour,' whereas every favour is not
grace in England, for in some favour there
is little grace. ... A 'contrite heart' he
changeth into a ' troubled heart,' and many
more things like and many texts untruly trans
lated for the maintenance of heresy. The most
foolish heretic in the town may write more false
heresies in one leaf than the wisest man in the
whole world can well and conveniently by reason
and authority confute in forty. These evan
gelical brethren think my works too long. But
also Our Lady's psalter think they too long
by all the Ave Marias and some good piece of
the Creed too. Then the Mass think they too
long by the Secrets and the Canon. Instead
of a long Breviary a short primer shall serve
them ; and yet the primer without Our Lady's
Matins. And the seven Psalms think they long
enough without the Litany ; and as for dirge or
commemoration for their friends' souls, all that
service is too long."
" Keep that which is committed to thy trust,
avoiding the profane novelties of words and
appositions of knowledge falsely so called." —
i TIM. vi. 20.
68
February 26
FAITH AND LOYALTY
f Ven. ROBERT DRURY, Pr., 1607
BORN of a gentleman's family in Buckingham
shire, he followed his studies at Rheims and
Valladolid, at the college lately founded by
Philip II for the English clergy. There he
was ordained, and sent on the English Mission
in 1593. His work lay in and about London,
and his zeal and learning were alike edifying.
In 1601 Elizabeth set forth a proclamation on
November 7, that she would be willing to show
some favour to such of the clergy as would
assure her of their allegiance to her as their
lawful Queen. On this, Drury, with thirteen
others of the most earnest of the secular clergy,
drew up a declaration affirming their loyalty to
the Queen, while at the same time they acknow
ledged the supreme spiritual authority of the
Bishop of Rome, as successor of St. Peter,
which they believed to be wholly compatible
with their civil allegiance ; and they further
declared their readiness to shed their blood for
the Queen or the Church if the rights of either
were attacked. This declaration does not seem
to have lessened the persecutions, though the
subscribers themselves were left unmolested. A
new oath, however, was framed under James I,
abjuring the Pope's power, and on Drury re
fusing to take this as against his conscience,
he was executed at Tyburn, February 26, 1607.
" I will speak of Thy testimonies before kings,
and will not be ashamed." — Ps. cxviii. 46.
69
February 27
THE ONE JUDGE
t Ven. MARK BARKWORTH, O.S.B., 1601
A CONVERT from Protestantism, he was arrested
shortly after his arrival from Valladolid on the
English Mission. At the Old Bailey, being told
to hold up his hand as charged with priesthood
and treason, he replied, " How is priesthood a
treason ? Was not our Saviour a priest accord
ing to the order of Melchisedech ? Was He a
traitor? Though I am of opinion, were He to
be judged at this tribunal, He would meet with
the like treatment as I look for." Asked by
whom he would be tried, ** By God," said he,
" and by the Apostles and Evangelists, and by
all the blessed Martyrs and Saints in Heaven.
I will never let my blood lay at the door of these
poor men (to the jury) who will be forced to bring
a verdict against the right or wrong for fear of
a lifelong fine. Let learned men judge in my
cause." " Will you, then, be judged by a jury of
ministers?" they asked. "Hell-fire," he said,
" will try them ; my cause is not to be trusted to
them." " You would then have a jury of priests ? "
said the judge. "That is right," he replied,
"and you will find a complete jury of them in
Wisbeach Castle." On this he was sentenced to
death, and replied, " Deo Gratias." He suffered
February 27, 1601.
" But to me it is a very small thing to be judged
by you or by man's day." — I COR. iv. 3.
70
February 28
HARBOURING PRIESTS
Yen. ANNE LINE, 1601
A DEVOUT widow gentlewoman, she suffered
continuous ill health, but her soul was strong.
She received the Blessed Sacrament at least
weekly, and always with abundance of tears.
Her one desire was to win the palm of martyr
dom, and she feared much but she would be
deprived of it, as very few of her sex had then
suffered. The assurance of a former confessor
of hers, B. Thompson, himself a martyr, and a
vision she had of our Lord on the Cross, bid her
hope that her desire would be obtained, and she
was not deceived. On Candlemas Day, 1601,
her house was beset by pursuivants at the very
time Mass was beginning, but, as the doors were
strongly barred, the priest, Mr. Page, managed
to escape, and the house was searched in vain.
Mrs. Line, however, was arrested and carried in
a chair to the Old Bailey, for she was too weak
to walk, and there sentenced to death. At
Tyburn she declared, " I am sentenced to death
for harbouring a Catholic priest, and so far I am
from repenting that I wish I could have enter
tained a thousand." She suffered February 27,
1 60 1, before the two priests, BB. Barkworth and
Filcock, and the former blessed her dead body,
saying, they would quickly follow her.
" He that receiveth a prophet in the name of
a prophet shall receive the reward of a prophet."
—MATT. x. 41.
February 29
THE CARDINAL'S HAT
B. JOHN FISHER, Card. B.
ON hearing news of his promotion to the sacred
purple, from personal humility and contempt of
honour, he remarked that if the Cardinal's hat
were laid at his feet he would not stoop to pick
it up; yet that he held the dignities of the Church
in due reverence the following dialogue shows.
"My Lord of Rochester," said Cromwell, "if
the Pope should now send you a Cardinal's hat,
what would you do ? Would you take it ? "
" Sir," said he, " I know myself so far un
worthy of any such dignity, that I think of
nothing less than such matters ; but if he do
send it me, assure yourself I will work with it
by all the means I can to benefit the Church of
Christ, and in that respect I will receive it on
my knees." The King's rage was uncontrollable.
When he heard of this answer of the servant of
God, he said to Cromwell : " Yea, is he yet so
lusty ? Well, let the Pope send him a hat when
he will ; but I will so provide that whensoever
it cometh he shall wear it on his shoulders, for
head shall he have none to set it on." And so
was his death decreed.
"Thou hast set on his head a crown of
precious stones." — Ps. xxi. 3.
72
March i
HEAVENLY VISIONS
Yen. STEPHEN ROWSAM, Pr., 1587
BORN in Staffordshire, as a commoner at Oriel
College,and again when a minister at the Church
of St. Mary's, Oxford, he is said to have had
divers strange visions, and to have beheld a
bright crown over his head, which he showed
to his companions. Being converted he went
to Rheims, was ordained priest, and was again
favoured with supernatural visions and voices.
Once when saying Mass a large spider covered
with dirt fell from the roof into the chalice after
consecration, but he consumed it from reverence
to the Precious Blood. He arrived in England
in 1583, and was arrested the same year and
cast into the " Little Ease" in the Tower. Dur
ing the eighteen months of imprisonment in this
wretched hole he was consoled by many heavenly
visitations, and birds would circle round him and
sing as he knelt in prayer. In 1585 he was
banished, but his zeal for the faith soon brought
him back to England, where he was again
arrested, thrust into Gloucester jail, and con
demned. On his way back to the prison after
the sentence he was pelted and covered with
filth by some youths on a dunghill. On the
morning of his martyrdom he celebrated Mass,
and going forth completed his thanksgiving by
the sacrifice of his life. March 1587.
" I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh ; and
your young men shall see visions, and your old
men shall dream dreams." — JOEL ii. 28.
73
March 2
LEARNING TO DIE
WALTER COLMAN, O.S.F., 1645
AFTER leading for some years a worldly life, he
entered the noviciate of the Recollects at Douay
about 1628. Born a poet, he wrote verses as
a help to his devotions on the Duel of Death.
His novice master to mortify him ordered him
to throw his composition into the fire, and he
instantly obeyed. On landing as a priest in
England he was seized and racked, and having
no shirt, for by the rule the Franciscan habit
must be worn next the skin, suspicions were
aroused, but he calmed them by attributing his
needy apparel to his extreme poverty. On re
fusing to take the oath of allegiance, he was,
however, imprisoned. Released through his
friends3 generosity, he began his missionary
labours. Disguised as a cavalier, his wit,
brilliant talents, and polished manners made him
generally popular, and aided his work for souls.
But the secret of his power lay under his gay
exterior, in his complete detachment from earthly
things, and his constant thought of death. He
was many times arrested, and at length con
demned, but he was left chained, insulted, often
beaten, to drag out three or four years in a
filthy prison till he learnt in practice the study
of his life — how to die. — Newgate, 1645.
" In the morning thou shalt say : Who will
grant me evening ? and at evening : Who will
grant rne morning?" — DEUT. xxviii. 67
grant rne morning
74
March 3
THE DAILY SACRIFICE
B. THOMAS MORE, L., 1535
BORN February 7, 1478, in Cheapside, London,
he was sent to St. Antony's School, Threadneedle
Street, and was then placed in the household ot
Cardinal Moreton, Archbishop of Canterbury
and Lord Chancellor. At the age of fourteen
he was sent to Oxford, and studied under Lin-
acre and Grocyn, and four years later became a
lecturer at Furnival's Inn. In his twenty-fifth
year he had serious thoughts of becoming a
religious. "The world was made up," he
wrote, " of false love and flattery, of hatred and
quarrels, and of all that ministered to the body
and the Devil." Being near the Carthusians,
he imitated their austerities, wore a hair shirt,
took the discipline on Fridays and Fast Days,
said Lauds, Matins, and the Penitential Psalms,
and always heard an entire Mass daily. This
practice he continued throughout his life, and
observed it so religiously that when the King
once sent for him while he was hearing Mass
he would not stir until the Mass was finished,
although the summons was twice or thrice
repeated. To the Royal messenger urging him
to come without delay, he said that he thought
first to perform his duty to a better Man than
the King was, nor was the King then angered
with Sir Thomas's boldness.
" His sacrifices were consumed by fire every
day."— ECCLUS. xlv. 17.
75
March 4
THE VESTMENTS OF SALVATION
Veh. NICHOLAS HORNER, L., 1590
A NATIVE of York, a tailor by trade and a
zealous Catholic, he endeavoured, according to
his ability, to persuade others to embrace the
faith. Having come up to London to be cured
of a wound in his leg, he was committed to
Newgate for harbouring priests. There the
heavy fetter on his leg and the deprivation of all
medical aid rendered an amputation necessary.
During the operation he sat upon a form, un
bound, in silence, a priest the while (Hewett,
who was afterwards himself a Martyr) holding
his head, and he was further comforted by such
a vivid apprehension of Christ bearing His
Cross that he seemed to see it on His shoulders.
Freed at the earnest suit of his friends, he
worked at his trade at some lodgings at Smith-
field. Again cast into Bridewell for harbouring
priests, he was hung up by the wrists till he
nearly died. At length condemned solely for
making a jerkin for a priest, he was hanged in
front of his lodging in Smithfield, March 3, 1 590.
On the night before his execution, finding him
self overwhelmed with anguish, he betook him
self to prayer, and perceived a bright crown of
glory hanging over his head. Assured of its
reality, he said : " O Lord, Thy will be mine,"
and died with extraordinary signs of joy.
"He hath clothed me with the garments of
salvation."— ISA. Ixi. 10.
76
March 5
FILIAL REVERENCE
Ven. JAMES BIRD, L., 1593
BORN at Winchester of a gentleman's family
and brought up a Protestant, he became a
Catholic and went to study at Rheims. On his
return he was apprehended and charged with
being reconciled to the Roman Church, and
maintaining the Pope under Christ to be the
Head of the Church. Brought to the bar he
acknowledged the indictment and received sen
tence of death as for high treason, though both
life and liberty were offered him if he would but
once go to the Protestant Church. When his
father solicited him to save his life by com
plying, he modestly answered that, as he had
always been obedient to him, so he would obey
him now could he do so without offending God.
After a long imprisonment he was hanged and
quartered at Winchester, March 25, 1593. He
suffered with wonderful constancy and cheerful
ness, being but nineteen years old. His head
was set upon a pole upon one of the gates of
the city. His father one day passing by thought
that the head bowing down made him a rever
ence, and cried out : " Oh, Jemmy my son, ever
obedient in life, even when dead thou payest
reverence to thy father. How far from thy
heart was all treason or other wickedness."
" Honour thy father in work and word, and
all patience, that a blessing may come upon
thee from him." — ECCLUS. iii. 9, 10.
77
March 6
THE MOTHER OF GOD
Ven. HENRY HEATH, O.S.F.
" O BLESSED and ever most Blessed Mother !
my sole consolation in this sorrowful pilgrimage
on earth is that Jesus Christ is thy only Son and
that through thy gracious intercession He does
not reject me. .My highest perfection is to try
and imitate thy singular humility and obedience,
and to make myself in all things the servant of
God's good pleasure and commands. All my
studies and knowledge tend to this, that I may
understand at least some portion of those mys
teries which were infinitely consummated in
thee : how God, the author and beginner of all
things, indivisible in essence, received from thee
a Son coeval and coequal with Himself in
majesty, distinct in person, but undivided in the
participation of substance and glory ; how the
same Person who from all eternity claimed by
right the Divine nature, laying aside His Royal
Sceptre and power became a weak infant, de
riving flesh from thy flesh, fed from thy breasts,
pressed in thine embrace and warmed in thy
bosom, but far more happily and deeply
cherished by thy love."
" Blessed is the womb that bare Thee and the
paps that gave Thee suck." — LUKE xi. 27.
March 7
HOLY FRIENDSHIP
t B. JOHN LARKE, Pr., 1544
IN 1504 he was presented to the small Rectory
of St. Ethelburga, Bishopsgate, a benefice which
he retained till a few years before his death.
In 1526 he was presented to the Rectory of
Woodford in Essex, which he resigned when
Sir Thomas More appointed him to that of
Chelsea in 1531. Sir Thomas was at that time
Lord Chancellor, and in that capacity he had
the right of appointment by a grant from the
Abbot and Canons of Westmister. Little as is
known of the life and ministry of the future
martyr, the patronage of the Blessed Thomas
is a sufficient proof of his merits, for he would
never have promoted one whom he did not feel
was worthy of the office. It was Larke's Mass
at Chelsea that More served daily, and priest
and server held each other in mutual esteem,
and their holy friendship strengthened them for
the coming sacrifice. More was martyred on
July 6, 1535, but it was not till nine years later
that Larke was tried with B. Germain Gardiner,
a layman, and B. John Ireland, a priest, for
refusing to take the oath. Fortified by More's
example, he stood firm in the hour of trial, and
suffered at Tyburn, March 7, 1544.
" For she is an infinite treasure to men which
they that use become the friends of God, being
commended for the gift of discipline." — WISDOM
vii. 14.
79
March 8
IN BONDS FOR CHRIST (i)
B. HART TO THE CATHOLIC PRISONERS
"You are a holy nation, a people specially dedi
cated to God, that you maybe partakers of His
eternal inheritance ; ye are safe in the Ark of
Noe, in a most happy condition, placed on a
mountain which is subject to no evil chance.
Therefore proceed as ye have begun in the
ranks of God's army, remain firm in your holy
vocation, fight to the very end ; and heaven —
heaven, I say, in which is joy and bliss never
to be put into words — shall be yours for ever.
Let this be your one and only study, to worship
God and to fear Him, and nothing will be
wanting to you. He is Almighty who will
defend you ; merciful who will rule over you ;
rich who will feed you ; sweet and loving who
will console and strengthen you. You will find
Him in your doubts a skilful doctor, in danger
a faithful guide, in labours an ever present help,
in all other troubles whatsoever a speedy Com
forter. You then who are in bonds for Christ
and separated from the world are not subject
to these temptations by which the children of
this world are harassed. . . . Take account of
time and do not let a day pass without fruit."
" We are the sons of God, and if sons heirs
also and joint heirs with Christ ; yet so if we
suffer with Him we may also be glorified with
Him."— ROM. viii. 16, 17.
80
March 9
IN BONDS FOR CHRIST (2)
B. HART TO THE CATHOLIC PRISONERS
" LET all your thoughts and meditations be on
Heaven and heavenly things. Let your prayers
be ardent, but your actions discreet and well
considered ; bear trials with patience. I pray
you, for Christ's sake, that you so live and so
bear yourselves in all things that the enemies
of the faith may be forced to account you, not
as relaxed, but as modest and religious. But
before all things, carefully preserve the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace, loving each
other with fraternal charity ; let there be no
dissensions among you, no discords ; for thus
will God embrace you with His love, and the
angels proclaim your praises. And I beseech
you, for Christ's sake, most beloved brethren,
daily, nay, every hour, to pray for me, a wretched
sinner, that I may finish my course to God's
glory, and I will pray for you here and in
Heaven, if God grant me ^lat grace. Fare
well, my most beloved sons, I beseech you to
pardon me whatsoever wrong by chance or
negligence I may have done you. This I have
written to you in the greatest haste, when al
most overcome with sleep and "greatly wearied."
" Above all things have charity, which is the
bond of perfection." — COL. iii. 14.
81
March 10
ENGLAND'S DEBT TO THE POPE
B. WILLIAM HART, Pr., 1583
BEFORE leaving Rome he made the following
address to Gregory XIII, March 1583 : " Of all
the monuments which your virtues have raised
to themselves throughout Christendom, none
are more glorious than the provision made by
you for the salvation of the souls of our country
men who are being dragged down to perdition.
By your fatherly tenderness and care those who
were children of wrath have now become heirs
of God, fellow-heirs with Jesus Christ. You
have opened up the way of return to the faith
and practice of our ancestral religion by oppos
ing to the barbarous rage of the heretics those
schools of virtue and learning, the Seminaries
of Rome and Rheims. Remit not, most Blessed
Father, your efforts to aid the afflicted and com
fort the wretched, nor withhold that fostering care
for our dear England, which spontaneously was
yours, though events prove contrary and the
times evil. This is the prayer addressed to you
by the cries of helpless infants, the moanings of
mothers, the tears of our nobles, the earnest en
treaties of the clergy, the loyalty to this Holy
See of which so many of our countrymen have
given proof. What they, being absent, are un
able to say may not be suppressed by us who
are privileged to behold your fatherly counten
ance."
"Feed My lambs, feed My sheep." — JOHN
xxi. 15, 16.
82
March 1 1
CHAINS FALLING OFF
f Yen. THOMAS ATKINSON, Pr., 1616
BORN in the East Riding of Yorkshire, he was
educated at Rheims, ordained, and went on the
English Mission in 1588. For some twenty-
eight years he toiled in his own country with
Apostolic zeal, taking great pains in serving the
poor, whom he supplied with food and comforts,
which they greatly needed. For many years he
travelled on foot, whatever the weather, and
often after a weary and wet day he would be
obliged to remain in some outhouse or corner,
even in the frost or snow, till the owners of the
house could receive him with safety. During the
severe frost he fell and broke his leg, and suffered
much in its setting through the unskilfulness of
the surgeon. After this he journeyed mostly on
horseback. In 1616, when in the house of Mr.
Vavasour of Willitoft, he was arrested, together
with his host and his wife and children, con
veyed to York, and there without proof or wit
ness sentenced to death. After he was ironed,
the fetters fell off of themselves when the holy
old man began to pray, as the keeper attested
before Lord Sheffield, the President of the
North, who inquired into the matter. At the
scaffold he was offered his life if he would take
the oath, but he refused, and suffered with joy a
most cruel martyrdom, York, March 17, 1616.
"And the angel striking Peter on the side
raised him up, saying, Arise quickly, and the
chains fell off from his hands." — ACTS xii. 7.
83
March 12
A LAST REQUEST
B. WILLIAM HART TO THE AFFLICTED
CATHOLICS
"THIS is the first, the last, the only request I make,
and have yet made or ever shall. Fulfil these
my desires, hear my voice, keep to my counsel.
But why do I, a miserable and unhappy sinner,
beg of you, that in this age, most poisoned and
most dangerous to the good, you should perse
vere firm and constant in your confession, where
angels, archangels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles,
martyrs, confessors, virgins, the whole world be
seech it, when the salvation of your souls and
the good God Himself make the same entreaty,
that you. should remain firm in the faith you
have once received and in your confession ot
the truth ? May God of His infinite mercy help
you to do so, and I, your spiritual father, though
weak and loaded with sins innumerable, will
never cease to pray for you, both in this life and
the next. Wherefore I entreat y6u, in every
way I can, to be mindful of me as often as you
offer your devout prayers to God, lest I be like a
melting candle, which giveth light to others and
itself consumeth. Again and again farewell, my
much desired ones. The servant of all and
every one of you."
" Lest perhaps when I have preached to
others I myself should become a castaway." —
i COR. ix. 27.
84
March 13
STAND FAST
B. WILLIAM HART TO THE AFFLICTED
CATHOLICS
•'STAND fast, brethren, stand steadfast, I say,
in that faith which Christ planted, the Apostles
preached, the Martyrs confirmed, the whole
world approved and embraced. Stand firm in
that faith which, as it is the oldest, is also the
truest and most sure, and which is most in
harmony with the Holy Scriptures and with all
antiquity. Stand constant in that faith which
has a worship worthy of all honour and re
verence, Sacraments most holy, abounding in
spiritual consolation. For if ye have remained
constant in this faith, that is, in the Catholic
Church, in the Ark of Noe, in the house of
Rahab, with what joy and consolation of the
soul will ye not be flooded : yours will be the
Sacrament of penance for the cleansing of your
souls ; yours the Sacrament of the Body and
Blood of our Saviour for the refreshing of your
souls ; you will be partakers of all the satisfac
tion and merits of Christ, of the fellowship of
the Saints, of the suffrages, prayers, fasts, and
almsdeeds of all the just whom the Catholic
Church throughout the world holds in her
bosom. O blessed they, yea, and thrice
blessed, who in this deplorable world stand
firm in the faith of Christ."
"The devil goeth about seeking whom he
may devour, whom resist ye strong in faith.'
— i PETER v. 8, 9.
85
March 14
A MENDICANT LORD CHANCELLOR
B. THOMAS MORE, L
ON Henry VIII assuming the title of Supreme
Head of the Church, More resigned his chan
cellorship, and, being thereby reduced to ex
treme poverty, he thus announced the change
to his family : " I have been brought up at
Oxford, at an Inn of Chancery, at Lincoln's
Inn, and also in the King's Court, and so from
the least degree to the highest, and yet my
revenues are now a little above a hundred
pounds the year. So that we must, if we like
to live together, become contributors together.
But we had better not fall to the lowest fare
first. We will not therefore descend to Oxford
fare, nor to the fare of New's Inn, but we will
begin with Lincoln's Inn diet, which, if we find
ourselves unable to maintain, then will we next
year after go one step down to New Inn fare.
If that exceed our ability too, then will we the
next year after descend to Oxford fare, where
many grave, ancient, and learned fathers be
conversant continually ; which if our ability
stretch not to maintain neither, then may we
yet with bags and wallets go a-begging together,
and hoping for pity some good folk will give
their charity, at every man's door to sing Salve
Regina, and so keep company merrily together."
"As having nothing, and possessing all
things." — 2 COR. vi. 10.
86
March 15
THE APOSTLE OF YORKSHIRE
f B. WILLIAM HART, Pr., 1583
BORN in Wells, Somerset, of Lincoln College,
Oxford, a brilliant scholar, he turned his back
on the world and embraced the faith. At
Douay he was a model to the future martyrs
there by his fortitude under the most acute and
almost continual pain from the stone. After
trying the Spa waters in vain, during a four
days' journey on foot from Douay to Rheims
he underwent violent paroxysms of the disease.
Without anaesthetics he now endured a terrible
operation, which he bore unmoved, and the
result was a perfect cure. In England, York
shire was the field of his priestly labours, and,
though they were for little over a year, their
success was such as to earn for him the title of
Apostle of that county. His special devotion
was to the Catholic prisoners in their fetid
dungeons, and he visited them daily at this
period of his life. Betrayed by an apostate, he
was imprisoned underground in York Castle
and doubly fettered, as he seemed so elated.
He triumphantly refuted the Protestant minis
ters at his trial before he suffered. He begged
his spiritual children to remain indoors on the
day of his execution unless they could assist at
it with a joyous face and a tranquil mien. He
was hanged at York, March 15, 1583.
" Be ye steadfast, immovable^ always abound
ing in the work of the Lord, knowing that your
labour is not in vain." — i COR. xv. 58.
8?
March 1 6
NIGHT TURNED TO DAY
t Yen. ROBERT DALEY, Pr., 1589
BORN in the county of Durham and brought up
a Protestant, he was a minister of the Established
religion when a Catholic chanced to admonish
him on the danger of his state. Reflecting on
this and on his past life he fell into such despair
that he tried to kill himself with a knife. The
stroke, however, was not mortal, and as he fell a
boy who was by called for help and brought the
neighbours to his assistance. During his pro
cess of recovery he was brought by a priest to a
repentant state of mind and was reconciled. He
now went to Rheims, was ordained priest, and,
returning to England, was arrested at Scar
borough, where he landed in 1589. At his trial
he answered the judges with much boldness, and
openly confessed himself a priest, and the judges
declared that they found him guilty on his own
admission. He was led to execution with John
Amias, also a secular priest, and both went with
much joy, and, having kissed and blessed the
hurdle, they lay down on it and would not suffer
themselves to be bound. This cheerful courage
they maintained to the end. Thus Father Dalby
washed out with his own blood the stains of his
former life. They suffered at Gloucester, March
16, 1589.
" They have turned night into day, and after
darkness I hope for light again.''' — JOB xvii. 12.
88
March 17
THE MOTIVE OF A MISSIONER
B. WILLIAM HART, Pr., 1583
THE judge asked him why he had left his native
country to go beyond the seas. He answered :
" For no other reason, my Lord, than to acquire
virtue and learning, and whereas I found religion
and virtue flourishing in those countries, I took
Holy Orders (to which I perceived myself called
by a Divine vocation) to the end that renouncing
the world I might be more at liberty to serve my
Master." They asked him how he had employed
his time since he had returned to England. He
answered : " Everywhere I have been I have
tried, as far as I could, to instruct the ignorant,
in order that they might be more prepared to
give an account of the faith that is in them. I
have also fed them with heavenly food, in order
that, being confirmed in good, they might strive
to keep their conscience pure, and by their pious
and religious life stop the mouths of those who
calumniate us." Being found guilty of treason
for leaving the country without the Queen's
leave, and for seducing her subjects by reconcil
ing them to the Church, he replied that " the
obedience which he taught men to give to the
Sovereign Pontiff increased the allegiance due
to their Prince."
" In all things let us exhibit ourselves as the
Ministers of God, in charity unfeigned, in the
word of truth." — 2 COR. vi. 4, 6, 7.
89
March 18
CHRISTIAN MODESTY
t Ven. JOHN THULIS, Pr., 1616
BORN at Up-Holland in Lancashire, he
studied at Rheims and was ordained priest at
Rome. Soon after his return to England he
was arrested and imprisoned at Wisbeach,
whence he escaped or was released, for he sub
sequently laboured as a missioner in his own
county and was there arrested by order of Lord
Derby and cast into Lancaster jail. In the
same prison with him was a weaver by trade,
Roger Wrenno, a zealous and devout soul. To
gether before the Lent Assizes in 1616 they
found the means of escape about five in the
evening, and walked fast the whole night for, as
they thought, some thirty miles, when on the
sun rising they found themselves again under
the very walls of Lancaster jail. Nothing
daunted, they saw in this mishap God's will for
their martyrdom. Arrested again, they were
both offered their lives if they would take the
oath of allegiance, but they steadfastly refused.
Special efforts were made on behalf of Thtilis,
who was much loved for his marvellous patience
and charity. In many sicknesses, when nigh to
death, in controversies with ministers, under
insults and calumny, he had never lost his
gentleness of manner or evenness of mind. His
last words to his fellow-priests in prison were an
exhortation to mutual charity. He suffered at
Lancaster, March 18, 1616.
" Let your modesty be known before all men."
—PHIL. iv. 5.
90
March 19
A GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN
Ven. ROGER WRENNO, L., 1616
WRENNO, a weaver, was condemned with Ven.
Thulis for assisting priests. After he was turned
off the ladder, the rope broke with the weight
of his body, and he fell down to the ground.
After a short space he came perfectly to him
self, and, going upon his knees, began to pray
very devoutly, his eyes and hands lifted up to
Heaven. Upon this the minister Lee came
to him and extolled the mercies of God in his
regard and likewise the King's clemency, who
would give him his life if he would but take
the oath. The good man at this arose, saying,
" I am the same man I was, and in the same
mind ; use your pleasure with me," and with
that he ran to the ladder, and went up it as
fast as he could. " How now," says the sheriff,
" what does the man mean, that he is in such
haste ? " " Oh ! " says the good man, " if you
had seen that which I have just now seen you
would be as much in haste to die as I now
am." And so the executioner, putting a stronger
rope about his neck, turned the ladder, and
quickly sent him to see the good things of which
before he had had a glimpse. He suffered at
Lancaster, March 18, 1616.
in
"I believe to see the good things of the Lord
the land of the living." — Ps. xxvi. 13.
March 20
THE MORNING STAR
Ven. HENRY HEATH, O.S.F., 1643
BORN at Peterborough, 1600, a Protestant, edu
cated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, as
librarian of that college he studied religious
questions. In comparing the Patristic quota
tions of the Protestant Whitaker with those of
the Catholic Bellarmine, he found the latter so
much more true and correct that he was drawn
to the faith. He now exposed the errors of
Protestantism with such publicity and force
that the College authorities resolved on his ex
pulsion and imprisonment. He fled therefore
to the Spanish embassy in London, then the
asylum of distressed Catholics, but was refused
admittance. He next applied to Mr. George
Jerningham, a well-known Catholic, who, tak
ing him for a spy, rejected him with bitter
reproaches. Thus destitute of friends and re
pulsed on all sides, he bethought him of the
devotion of Catholics to our Blessed Lady, in
whom he had hitherto but little faith. Turning
to her as the Morning Star of the wanderer and
the hope of the afflicted, he besought her to take
pity on him, and vowed in return to devote him
self to her service. When on a sudden the
same Mr. Jerningham, who had rejected him,
came up and accosted him with kindness, took
him to a priest, Father Muscot, who confessed
him and reconciled him to the Church.
" As a shining light goeth forwards and in-
creaseth even to perfect day." — PROV. iv. 18.
92
March 21
CUT ASUNDER
f Yen. THOMAS PILCHARD, Pr., 1587
A FELLOW of Balliol, he was made priest at
Rheims and returned to England in 1583. He
was of most gentle, courteous manners and an
indefatigable missioner. His work lay in the
western counties, and when apprehended he
was cast into Dorchester jail. There he con
verted many of his fellow-prisoners, and from all
parts his counsel was sought. At length he was
tried and sentenced to death. Sentences of this
sort were, however, rare in Dorchester, and an
executioner could hardly be found until at length
a cook, or rather a butcher, was hired at a great
cost. But after the rope was cut and the priest,
being still alive, stood on his feet under the
scaffold, the fellow held back struck with fear.
At length, compelled by the officials to finish
his work, he drove his knife, hardly knowing
what he did, into the body of the priest, and
leaving it there he again hung back horror-
stricken amidst the groans of the spectators.
This lasted so long that Mr. Pilchard, coming
completely to himself, naked and horribly
wounded, inclining his head to the sheriff,
said : " Is this, then, your justice, Mr. sheriff?"
At last he was brutally despatched. He suffered
at Dorchester, March 21, 1587.
" They were stoned, they were cut asunder,
they were tempted, they were put to death by
the sword."— HEB. xi. 37.
93
March 22
A CATHOLICS GRAVE
JOHN JESSOP, L., c. 1587
HE was Ven. Pilchard's faithful and loving com
panion, and before and after his imprisonment
his 'chief instrument in saving souls. He was
with Pilchard when the latter was captured in
Fleet Street, and, being unable to conceal his
grief, and known to be Pilchard's companion
elsewhere, he was apprehended and suffered to
linger in prison, and at length died, either from
grief or the filth of the place, though he was a
man in the flower of his age, being less than
forty years old. In his will he gave special
directions that his body should not be buried in
a graveyard, but as closely as possible to the
body of Pilchard in the fields by the place of his
execution. When his friends and his wife asked
him to consult in this matter the honour of his
family, and not to make light of consecrated
ground, he replied that all graveyards were now
profaned by the bodies of heretics, and that he
felt assured the blood and members of so great
a Martyr would abundantly sanctify the place he
had chosen. This was shown by the fact that
till Pilchard's limbs were taken down from the
walls, where they had been hung, the whole
surrounding country was swept with the most
terrific storms and lightnings.
" Behold, I will open your graves and will
bring you out of your sepulchres, O my people:
and will bring you into the land of Israel." —
EZECH. xxxvii. 12.
94
March 23
FRUIT OF MARTYRDOM
Ven. WILLIAM PIKES, L., 1591
HE was born at Parley, near Christchurch,
Hampshire, and became a joiner by trade in
the town of Dorchester. He was put on his trial
for having spoken in prison too freely in favour
of the Catholic religion. The "bloody" ques
tion about the Pope's supremacy was put to him,
and he frankly confessed that he maintained the
authority of the Roman See, and he was con
demned to die a traitor's death. When they
asked him, as is their wont, whether to save his
life and family he would recant, he boldly replied
that it did not become a son of Mr. Pilchard to
do so. "Did that traitor, then, pervert you?"
asked the judge. " That holy priest of God and
true martyr of Christ," he replied, "taught me
the truth of the Catholic Faith." Asked when
he first met him, " It was on a journey," said he,
" returning from this city." He was hanged at
Dorchester in 1591, and cut down alive. Being
a very able, strong man, when the executioners
came to throw him on the block to quarter him,
he stood upon his feet, on which the sheriff's men
overmastering him threw him down and pinned
his hands fast to the ground with their halberts,
and so the butchery was performed.
" Unless the grain of wheat ."ailing into the
ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die
it bringeth forth much fruit." — JOHNxii. 24, 25.
95
March 24
THE GUARDIAN ANGEL
Ven. JOHN HAMBLEY, Pr., 1587
A NATIVE of Somersetshire, he arrived frorr,
Douay on the English Mission in 1585. Ar
rested, he spent two years in prison and was
then condemned. In terror at his death sen
tence he promised to yield to what the judges
required, which was practically tantamount to
denying the faith. Great hereat was the jubila
tion of the heretics, and not least that of the
judge. But whilst the priest was standing be
tween the constables, like the rest of the con
demned, there came up to him (for the assizes
were held in booths in the open) a certain un
known man, who, after placing some letters in
his hand, at once withdrew, no one preventing
him, which in itself was a kind of miracle. Mr.
Hambley read and re-read them, until at length
he broke into tears and gave signs of being
strongly moved, but refused to give the contents
of the letters or the name of the bearer. The
next morning before the judge he expressed his
shame for his promise of conformity, was sen
tenced, and bravely won his martyr's crown.
Although these letters, doubtless, restored him
to a right mind, yet neither the writer nor the
bearer have ever been discovered, and many
believed that they were brought by his Guardian
Angel. He suffered at Salisbury about Easter,
1587.
" He hath given His angels charge over thee,
to guard thee in all thy ways." — Ps. xc. 1 1
96 '
March 25
THE WINE-PRESS ALONE
t B. MARGARET CLITHEROE, 1586
FORBIDDEN to see husband or child, pestered
by successive ministers, and herself charged
with gross immorality, Margaret learnt at length,
on March 24, that she was to die on the morrow,
that year Good Friday. She had prepared
herself for this by fasting and prayer, but she
begged for a maid to be with her during the
night, for "though death is my comfort," she
said, " the flesh is frail," but as no one could be
admitted the keeper's wife sat with her for a
while. The first hours of the night Margaret
passed on her knees in prayer, clothed in a
linen habit made by herself for her passion. At
three she rose and laid herself flat on the stones
for a quarter of an hour, then rested on her bed.
At eight the Sheriffs called, and with them she
walked barefoot, going along through the crowd
to the Tolbooth. There turning from the minis
ters she knelt and prayed by herself. Forced
to undress, she laid herself on the ground clothed
only in the linen habit, her face covered with a
handkerchief, her hands outstretched and bound
as if on a cross. The weighted door was laid
on her ; at the first crushing pain she cried,
" Jesu, Mercy," and after a quarter of an hour
passed to her God.
" I have trodden the wine-press alone. "— ISA.
Ixiii. 3.
97 G
March 26
BEFORE HEROD
B. MARGARET CLITHEROE, 1586
ON March 10, 1586, when she had been at
liberty some eighteen months, her husband was
summoned before the Council at York, and in
his absence his house was searched. The priest
there in hiding escaped, but Margaret and her
children were taken prisoners. Enraged at their
failure the searchers stripped a Flemish boy of
twelve years, staying in the house, and threa
tened him with rods till he showed them the
priest's chamber, and where the Church stuff
was kept. At her trial, lest her children might
be forced by evidence to be guilty of her blood,
she refused to plead, giving as a reason how
ever that she had committed no offence. Two
chalices were therefore produced and religious
pictures, and two ruffians clad themselves in
the priestly vestments and began playing the
fool, pulling and hauling themselves before the
judges, while one, holding up a piece of bread,
said to the martyr, " Behold the God in whom
thou believest." At her second examination
she again refused to plead, saying that there
was no evidence against her save that of children,
whom you can make say anything for a rod or
an apple. The judge urged her to demand a
jury, but in vain, and on her refusal she was
sentenced to be pressed to death.
" Herod questioned Him in many words, but
Jesus answered him nothing." — LUKE xxiii. 9.
98
March 27
A VALIANT WOMAN
B. MARGARET CLITHEROE, 1586
WIFE of John Clitheroe, sometime Sheriff of
York, she was thirty years of age, and already
married, when a growing dissatisfaction with
the Protestant religion led her, after due inquiry,
to embrace the faith. During the following
twelve years of her Catholic life her house was
a refuge for priests, whom she received at her
own peril and unknown to her husband. With
this help she brought up her children in the
faith and her eldest son for the priesthood.
She managed to hear Mass almost daily, com
municated twice a week, and fasted rigorously.
For her persistent recusancy she was repeatedly
cast into prison, even for two years together and
more, but her sufferings only increased her fer
vour. " Were it not," she said, " for her husband
and child she would rather stay there always,
apart from the world with God." Still, when at
liberty she was most attentive to the care of her
house, and with her servant took part herself in
the humblest menial work. She was exposed
to much ill-usage even from Catholics, who mis
judged and censured her, but her constancy and
patience never failed. Her husband said she
had only two faults, fasting too much and
refusing to go to Church.
" Her children rose up and called her blessed :
her husband and he praised her. Many daugh
ters have gathered together riches : thou hast
surpassed them all." — PROV. xxxi. 28-29.
" COIL. CHRISTI RE«»S
BIB. MAJ.
March 28
FILIAL PIETY
B. HART TO HIS PROTESTANT MOTHER (i)
" SEEING that by the severity of the laws, by
the wickedness of the times, and by God's holy
ordinance and appointment, my days in this
life are cut off: of duty and conscience I am
bound (being far from you in body, but in spirit
very near you) not only to crave your daily
blessing, but also to write these few words
unto you. You have been a most loving,
natural, and careful mother unto me : you have
suffered great pains in my birth and bringing
up ; you have toiled and turmoiled to feed and
sustain me your first and eldest child ; and
therefore for these and all other your motherly
cherishings I give you, as it becometh me to
do, most humble and hearty thanks; wishing
that it lay in me to show myself as loving,
natural, and dutiful a son as you have showed
yourself a most tender and careful mother. I
had meant this spring to have seen you if God
had granted me health and liberty, but now
never shall I see you or any of yours in this
life again ; trusting yet in Heaven to meet you,
to see you, and to live everlastingly with you."
" Forget not the groanings of thy mother." —
ECCLUS. vii. 29.
100
March 29
NO COMPARISON
B. HART TO HIS PROTESTANT MOTHER (2)
" ALAS, sweet Mother, why do you weep ? Why
do you lament ? Why do you take so heavily
my honourable death ? Know you not that we
are born once to die ; and that always in this
life we may not live ? Know you not how vain,
how wicked, how inconstant, how miserable
this life of ours is ? Do you not consider my
calling, my estate, my profession ? do you not
remember that I am going to a place of all
pleasure and felicity ? Why, then, do you weep ?
why do you mourn ? why do you cry out ? But
perhaps you will say I weep not so much for
your death as I do for your being hanged,
drawn, quartered. My sweetest mother, it is the
favourablest, honourablest, happiest death that
ever could have chanced unto me. I die, not
for knavery, but for verity : I die, not for treason
but for religion ; I die, not for any ill de
meanour or offence committed, but only for my
faith, for my conscience, for my priesthood, for
my blessed Saviour Jesus Christ : and to tell
you truth if I had ten thousand lives I am
bound to lose them all rather than to break
my faith and offend my God. We are not
made to eat, drink, sleep, but to serve God,
and to the cost of our lives."
" For I reckon that the sufferings of this time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory
to come." — ROM. viii. 18.
101
March 30
MEETING IN HEAVEN
B. HART TO HIS PROTESTANT MOTHER (3)
" TELL me, for God's sake, would you not gladly
see me a Bishop, King, or Emperor? Yea,
verily, you would. How glad, then, may you be
to see me a martyr, a saint, a most glorious and
bright star in Heaven. The joy of this life is
nothing, and the joy of the other is everlasting,
and therefore thrice happy may you think your
self that your son William is going from earth
to Heaven. I can say no more but desire you
to be of good cheer, because myself am well.
If I had lived I would have helped you in your
age, as you have helped me in my youth. But
now I must desire God to help you and my
brethren, for I cannot. Good mother, be con
tent with that which God hath appointed for my
perpetual comfort ; and now, in your old days,
serve God in the old Catholic manner; pray
unto Him daily ; beseech Him heartily to make
you a member of His Church, and that He will
save your soul : for Jesus' sake, good mother,
serve God. Read that book I gave you, and
die a member of Christ's Body, and then one
day we shall meet in Heaven by God's grace.
God comfort yon, Jesus save your soul, and send
you once to Heaven. Farewell."
"As one whom the mother caresseth, so will
I comfort you, and you shal] be comforted in
Jerusalem." — ISA. Ixvi. 13.
102
March 31
JESUS DULCIS MEMORIA
Yen. HENRY HEATH, O.S.F., 1643
" WHEREAS I have learnt by certain experience
that all human consolation is subject to vanity,
therefore I determine to have alone most sweet
Jesus in my mind and in all things to meditate
on His sweetness. O how sweet is Jesus, who
for me, so vile a worm, hath suffered so many
things, and of such a sort ! Sweet house, in
which Jesus doth vouchsafe to dwell with me !
Sweet cell, in which I may always contemplate
Sweet Jesus ! Sweet drink, sweet bread, which
most Sweet Jesus hath provided for my refresh
ment ! Sweet Brothers, who have given them
selves up so absolutely to the service and love
of Sweet Jesus ! Sweet consolation, sweet dis
course, by which Sweet Jesus doth ease my
afflictions ! Sweet abjection, sweet mortifica
tion, by which I may suffer something for Sweet
Jesus ! Sweet afflictions, sweet pain, sweet
chastisement, by which I am forced to call
for the help of Jesus ! O how sweet are all
the creatures who so exceedingly extol the
wisdom and power of my Sweet Jesus ! Never,
therefore, will I admit through all toils and
trials other than that sweet word. Thy will
be always done, Lord Jesus. Amen."
"Taste and see how sweet the Lord is." —
Ps. xxxiii. 9.
103
April i
LOVE OF THE SEMINARY
Ven. THOMAS MAXWELL, Pr., 1616
To the President of Douay College he wrote :
"As in duty I am bound never to forget you
who have had so tender and fatherly care of
me, so now especially I must write to you for
perhaps the last time, as I expect, with some
hope, to end my days in the just quarrel of my
Lord and Master Jesus Christ. You will have
heard of my attempted escape, of how God
delivered me again into the hands of my
enemies, and my subsequent affliction and
misery. On Wednesday or Thursday I am to
receive my trial on life or death, the happiest
news that I ever had. God give me strength
and courage to glorify His name by my death,
and to fill up the number of my glorified brethren
who are gone before me. I think myself most
happy to be a branch and still a member of
that blessed house of Douay, that has afforded
to our poor barren country so much good and
happy seed. I am therefore yours, and so will
live and die. Good father, make me partaker
of your prayers, and commend me to all my
good and dearly loved brethren, for whom and
for the prosperity of that house I will never
cease to pray." He suffered at Tyburn, July i,
1616.
" Who maketh the barren woman to dwell in
a house the joyful mother of children." — Ps.
cxii. 8.
104
April 2
FALSE BRETHREN
t B. JOHN PAYNE, Pr.
BORN in the diocese of Peterborough, he entered
Douay in 1574, and returned to England with
B. Cuthbert Mayne in 1576. His chief refuge
in England was at Lady Petre's house at In-
gatestone, where the priests' hiding-place, dis
covered in 1855, proved to be under the bed
room floor, measuring 14 feet by 2 feet I inch
in breadth and 10 feet in height. He wrote
to Douay that both the number of converts,
especially among the gentlemen, and their con
stancy under persecution were alike amazing.
He was arrested in 1579 by means of " Judas "
Eliot. This man had been employed in posi
tions of trust in several Catholic households,
to their great loss. He had embezzled monies
of Lady Petre, and had enticed a young woman
away from the Roper household, and had then
applied to B. Payne to marry them, and on his
refusal determined to be avenged. The charge
of theft and murder was now hanging over him,
but by betraying a priest he escaped from both,
and filled his pockets as well. On his perjured
evidence alone, though refuted in court, Father
Payne was sentenced, and hung at Chelmsford,
April 2, 1582. The Holy Name "Jesus" was
on his lips as he died.
" If my enemy had reviled me I would have
borne it, but thou a man of one mind with me ;
in the house of God we walked with consent." —
Ps. liv. 14, 15.
105
April 3
AVOIDANCE OF SCANDAL
Archbishop HEATH OF YORK, 1579
HE took the oath of supremacy under Henry
VIII, and accepted from him in succession the
Sees of Rochester and Worcester. Repenting
of his cowardice, he opposed the innovations of
Edward VI, and was imprisoned in 1551. Under
Mary he was set free, absolved from his schism,
and made Archbishop of York. On his refusal
to crown Elizabeth or to take the oath of
supremacy he was deposed, and freedom of
residence was offered him if he would assist at
the Protestant services ; but he declined the
offer, and "why I decline," he said, "the
Council have often heard me say to Parliament,
all of which may be summed up thus : What
ever is contrary to the Catholic faith is heresy ;
whatever is contrary to unity is schism." And
when the visitors said that he would not be re
quired to receive communion, he answered " that
it is the same thing in reason to act a part of
schism as the whole, nor would I that even my
back should be seen where scandal might be
given, since the heart cannot be read." He
died in the Tower twenty years after his de
position, April 1579. The other Bishops re
garded him, it was said, as monks do their
abbot.
" Whoever shall scandalise one of these little
ones that believe in Me, it were better for him
that a millstone were hanged round his neck
and he were cast into the sea." — MARK ix. 41.
106
April 4
THE LAST OF HIS LINE
f Bishop GOLDWELL.OF ST. ASAPH, 1585
BORN of ancient lineage at Great Chart, Kent,
a scholar of All Souls, known as a mathema
tician, he became Rector of Cheriton, Kent. In
1534, to avoid the oath of supremacy, he went
to Rome, and was appointed sub-president of
the English Hospice, and chaplain to Pole.
He now entered the lately-founded Theatine
Order, and in attendance on Pole assisted at
the Conclave of Paul III. In 1553 he was
sent to England, at the instance of Charles V,
to communicate with the newly-crowned Queen
Mary regarding her marriage with Philip II,
and by her was promoted to the See of St. Asaph,
where he showed his zeal in establishing
ecclesiastical discipline. On Elizabeth's acces
sion, finding himself unable to discharge any
episcopal duty, he returned to Rome, and was
chosen Superior of the Roman house of his
Order. He assisted at the Council of Trent,
and helped to found the English College with
the endowments of the Hospice. Prevented by
ill health and great age from returning to give
his life in England as he desired, he died in
Rome, April 3, 1585, aged eighty-five, the last of
the ancient English hierarchy, and no unworthy
representative of his saintly predecessors.
" Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the
vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in
Me."— JOHN xv. 4.
107
April 5
STRENGTH IN UNION
Ven. HENRY WALPOLE, S.J., 1595
" I AM much astonished that so vile a creature as
I am should be so near, as they tell me, to the
crown of martyrdom : but this I know for certain,
that the Blood of my most blessed Saviour and
Redeemer and His most sweet love is able to
make me worthy of it, l omnia possum in eo qui
me comfortat.' Your Reverence, most loving
father, is engaged in the midst of the battle. I
sit here an idle spectator of the field ; yet King
David has appointed an equal portion for us
both, and love, charity, and union, which unites
us together in Jesus Christ our Lord, makes us
mutually partakers of another's merits, and what
can be more closely united than we two, who, as
your Reverence sees, 'simul segregati sumus
in hoc ministerium.' About Mid-Lent I hope
my lot will be decided, as then the assizes will
be held. Meanwhile I have leisure to prepare
myself, and I beg your Reverence to join your
holy prayers with my poor ones, and I trust
that our Lord may grant me, not regarding my
many imperfections, but the fervent labours,
prayers, and holy sacrifices of so many fathers,
and my brothers His servants, to glorify Him
in life or death."
" That you stand fast in one spirit, with one
mind labouring together for the faith of the
gospel." — PHIL. i. 27.
108
April 6
THE SONG OF THE SPIRIT
Ven. HENRY WALPOLE, S.J., 1595
IN the Tower he was in great and extraordinary
want, without bed, without clothes, without any
thing to cover him, and that at a season when
the cold was most sharp and piercing, so that
the Lieutenant, though an enemy, out of pure
compassion had given him a little straw to sleep
on. He was fourteen times under the torture.
This consists of being hung up six or seven
hours by the hands in iron clasps, which cut the
flesh and cause much blood to flow, and at times
terminates fatally. From the Tower he was sent
to York, and upon all that journey he never lay
down upon a bed, but his sleep was on the bare
ground. In the York prison he had nothing but
one poor mat three feet long, on which he made
his prayer upon his knees for a great part of the
night. Besides this long prayer he spent not a
little time in making English verses, for which
he had a particular talent and grace ; for before
he left the kingdom he had made a poem on the
martyrdom of Father Campion, for which the
publisher was condemned to lose his ears and
to pass the remainder of his days in prison, and
there, after nine years, he made a pious end.
" I will pray with the spirit, I will pray also
with the understanding ; I will sing with the
spirit, I will sing also with the understanding." —
I COR. xiv. 15.
109
April 7
UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE
MOST HIGH
t Ven. HENRY WALPOLE, S.J., 1595
BORN of an ancient Catholic family in Norfolk,
he studied both at Oxford and Cambridge and
then followed the law in Gray's Inn, London. His
zeal for the faith brought him into trouble with the
Government, and he went abroad, and in 1584
entered the Society of Jesus at Rome, three of his
brothers following his example. He was em
ployed in Italy, Flanders, and Spain before he
obtained his heart's desire, and was sent on the
English Mission in December 1593. He was
arrested after landing at Bamborough Head,
Yorkshire, imprisoned at York and sent up to
London. Committed to the Tower, he was
exafnined and tortured fourteen times, and then
sent back to York, where he was sentenced to
die. Before his sentence he wrote : il I know
not yet what will become of me ; but whatever
shall happen, by the grace of God it shall be
welcome. For in every place — north, south, east
or west — He is at hand and the wings of His
protection are stretched forth to every place
where they are who truly serve and worship
Him. I trust that He will be glorified in me
whether in life or death : ' qui coepit perficiet :
mihi vivere Christus est et mori lucrum.'"
Father Walpole was executed at York, together
with Father Rawlins, a secular priest, April 7,
1595-
" Who dwells under the Shadow of the Most
High shall abide under the protection of the
God of Heaven."— Ps. xc. i.
no
April 8
DEVOTION TO ST. WINEFRIDE
Ven. EDWARD OLDCORNE, S.J., 1606
BORN in Yorkshire, he made his studies in
Rheims and Rome, where he remained six years,
was ordained priest and admitted into the
Society of Jesus. He came over to England
with Father John Gerard, S.J., in 1588 and was
sent into Worcestershire, where he laboured with
great zeal and profit. His place of residence
was Henlip, Mr. Abington's, whose sister, Mrs.
Dorothy Abington, having been brought up at
Queen Elizabeth's Court, was a violent Protes
tant. After all arguments had failed, Father
Oldcorne determined by fasting and prayer to
cast out the deaf and dumb devil, and success
followed. The but now bigoted Protestant came
bathed in tears, threw herself at his feet and
begged to be received, which was speedily ac
complished. Under the stress of his labours
and many dangers his health gave way, and he
was reduced to extreme weakness by a violent
haemorrhage and an apparently incurable cancer
in his mouth. He resolved to have recourse to
St. Winefride, and by bathing in her well was
completely cured. He was seized at Henlip,
and after being five times racked in London
was executed at Worcester, April 7, 1606.
" They brought forth the sick into the streets
and laid them on beds and couches, that when
Peter came his shadow at the least might over
shadow them that they might be delivered from
their infirmities." — ACTS v. 15.
Ill
April 9
LIFE IN RELIGION
Ven. HENRY HEATH, O.S.F., TO A NUN
"THE very house and walls of thy enclosure
cannot but put thee in mind where and how thou
hast lived these many years, as if thou hadst
been long already dead and buried in thy habit
from the world. How sweetly now canst thou
say to thyself, ' O happy time, O blessed years,
that I have now passed in my Redeemer's ser
vice ! O blessed prison ! O happy chains and
bonds of my vows which I have borne for sweet
Jesus ! Here I have daily carried my cross,
which has taught me the way of true humility
and patience. Here have I been broken of my
own proper will and judgment, which would have
hindered me from being wholly resigned and
obedient to the will of God. Here have I been
trained up in virtue, in the fear of God, in the
way to Heaven. Here I sweetly sing the praises
of my Redeemer. Here have I followed Him
through every step of His passion. Here have
I spent many a groan to come to Jesus when He
has hid Himself from me. And now my whole
pilgrimage is to be ended ! Now I go to my
sweet Beloved, no more trouble or temptation,
never to be separated from Him.' "
" My Beloved to me and I to Him."— CANT,
ii. 1 6.
112
April i o
VIRGO POTENS
Ven. HENRY HEATH, O.S.F., 1643
FATHER HEATH'S own conversion was a re
markable effect of Mary's intercession, but more
striking yet was that of his aged father. A
bigoted Protestant, he seemed proof alike against
arguments and prayers, and was now on the
brink of the grave. To Our Lady Father Heath
turned, beseeching her aid for his father in his
extreme peril, when suddenly the old man, now
fourscore, crossed the sea, arrived at Douay, and
was reconciled to the Church. Again, during
Father Heath's guardianship, when his com
munity was dying of want and disease, through
Our Lady's prayers the sick recovered and their
needs were relieved. And now, to obtain the
Superior's consent to his going to England, he
started on a pilgrimage to her shrine at Mon-
taigu in Brabant. At Ghent he found his petition
refused, but still completed his pilgrimage, and
on the way back the same Superior who refused
now granted his request. From that time till
his death Father Heath seemed a changed man.
His anxieties and fears were succeeded by a
holy calm, and supernatural joy manifested itself
in his whole conduct, but especially at Mass.
He constantly extolled the glory of the Martyrs,
as if he had already a foretaste of their reward.
Thus did Our Lady answer his prayers.
" He who is mighty hath done great things
for me and Holy is His Name." — LUKE ii. 49.
113 H
April 1 1
LOST AND FOUND
t Ven. GEORGE GERVASE, O.S.B., 1608
HE was born at Bosham in Sussex. His father
belonged to a noted family in that county, and
his mother was of the ancient stock of the
Shelleys. He was left an orphan when he was
twelve years of age, and not long after was kid
napped by a pirate (probably a lieutenant of
Drake, who was then buccaneering on the
Spanish Main), and was taken to the West Indies
with two of his brothers, and, considering his
surroundings, the lawlessness, plunder, and
bloodshed of a pirate's life, it is not surprising to
learn that he quite lost his religion. At length
he found means of returning to England, and
went over to Flanders, where his eldest brother
Henry was staying, both for conscience' sake
and to enjoy the free practice of his religion.
By his example George was reconciled to the
Catholic faith, entered Douay, was ordained
priest 1603, and entered on the English Mission
1604. After two years he was apprehended and
banished. His brother had provided a comfort
able home for him at Lille, but his zeal for souls
drew him again to England, where he was
shortly apprehended, and, refusing to take the
oath of allegiance, was condemned. He suffered
at Tyburn, April II, 1608, aged thirty-seven,
having been admitted to the Benedictine Order.
" My father and mother have left me, but the
Lord hath taken me up." — Ps. xxvi. 10.
114
April 12
TORMENTING MINISTERS
Ven. GEORGE GERVASE, O. S.B., 1608
"URGED at his examination as to whether the
Pope could depose princes, he demurred, saying
it was a hard question, and at last replied,
* Yes, and also all the princes of the world' ;
and on his trial answered, 'What I have said
my blood is ready to answer.' After his con
demnation the Bishop sent seven ministers on
the Sunday morning before his execution to deal
with him ; one was Dr. Morton, whom I saw.
They all tormented him according to their
diversities of spirits, but, as the keeper said, he
remained a most obstinate Papist. This much
I will adjoin of my own knowledge (he being
dearest unto me), that since the first persecution
in England never any priest, for the space of two
or three days, ever had more affliction amongst
ministers, and that by means of the Bishop.
The whole Sunday night before his death he
was accompanied by five ministers. On the
hurdle he lifted up his bound hands, signing to
me to pray for him. At the gallows, at the
minister's final importunities, he said: 'Tut,
tut, look to thyself, poor man.' He was cruelly
butchered, but now enjoyeth all felicity, being
most devout to our Blessed Lady." Written by
one who was present.
"They surrounded me like bees, and they
burned like fire among thorns." — Ps. cxvii. 12.
April 13
A. FRUITFUL OLD AGE
f Ven. JOHN LOCKWOOD, Pr., 1642
OF a good Yorkshire Catholic family, he gave
up his estate, became a priest, and laboured for
forty-four years as a missioner in his own county.
He was imprisoned, banished, retaken, con
demned to death, reprieved, escaped, or obtained
his liberty, and was finally apprehended at the
house of Mrs. Catenby, a Catholic widow, where
he had lived some years. He was cultivating
his little garden when he was seized, and, being
too weak to walk or ride, he was laid across the
horse and thus conveyed to York. There he
was sentenced to death with Mr. Catherick, a
fellow-priest. Mr. Catherick was to suffer first,
but, showing signs of fear, Father Lockwood
claimed as senior the privilege of taking preced
ence. He then earnestly prayed for their mutual
perseverance, and beginning with much difficulty
to climb the ladder, he begged the Sheriff to
have patience, as it was a piece of hard service
for an old man fourscore and seven. At length,
with the help of two men, whom he paid for
their pains, he reached the top, and asking
Father Catherick with a smile how he did, the
latter replied : " In good heart, blessed be God ;
your good example has strengthened me." So
both won their crown. April 13, 1642.
" They that are planted in the house of the
Lord shall flourish in the courts of the house of
our God. They shall still increase in a fruitful
old age." — PS. xci. 14, 15.
116
April 14
A CRY FOR RELIEF (i)
W. BLUNDELL, 1600
WE Catholics, tormented sore
With heresy's foul railing tongue,
With prisons, tortures, loss of goods,
Of land, yea, lives, even thieves among,
Do crave, with heart surcharged with grief,
Of Thee, sweet Jesu, some relief.
We crave relief in this distress,
We seek some ease of this annoy ;
Yet are we well content with all,
So Thee in end we may enjoy ;
Ourselves to Thee we do resign —
Relieve us, Lord, our cause is Thine.
Our cause is Thine, and Thine are we,
Who from Thy truth refuse to slide :
Our faith Thy truth, true faith the cause
For which these garboyles we abide ;
True faith, I say, as plain appears
To all who shut not eyes and ears.
To all who shut not eyes and ears
'Gainst fathers, scriptures, Church, and Thee,
Who built Thy Church, as doctors all
With scriptures plainly do agree,'
Not, soon to fall, upon the sand,
But on a Rock still sure to stand.
Still sure to stand, yea, on a hill,
For all her friends and foes to see,
Her friends to foster and defend,
Her foes to vanquish gloriously ;
From age to age this hath she done,
Thus shall she do in time to come.
117
April 15
A CRY FOR RELIEF (2)
W. BLUNDELL, 1600
IN time to come, as heretofore,
Most certainly she shall prevail
'Gainst all the force and sleighty wiles,
Wherewith hell-gates may her assail ;
Who shoot against this brazen wall
With their fond bolts themselves will gall.
Themselves to gall they will be sure,
Who strive to ruinate Thy house,
And to withdraw Thy children dear
From soft lap of Thy dearest spouse,
Thy children whom, with streams of blood,
Thou bought, sweet Lord, upon the Rood.
Upon the Rood Thou bought our souls
With price more worth then all Thou bought,
Yet doth the fiend our foes so blind,
Both souls and price they set at naught ;
They reckon not enough their ill,
Except with theirs our souls they spill.
Our souls to spill they think full soon
Or else our bodies to enthrall ;
Or, at the least, to wantful state,
Through hard pursuits, to bring us all ;
Come quickly, therefore, Lord Jesus,
And judge this cause 'twixt them and us.
Give judgment, Lord, 'twixt them and us,
The balance yet let pity hold :
Let mercy measure their offence,
And grace reduce them to Thy fold,
That we, all children of Thy spouse,
May live as brethren in Thy house.
iiS
April 1 6
AWAITING SENTENCE
Ven. HENRY HEATH, O.S.F., 1643
HE had always expressed his conviction that
the martyrs found joy in suffering, and the
following letter shows that his own experience
confirmed the fact : " Your consolations filled
my soul with joy. The judges have not yet
passed sentence. I beseech the Divine Good
ness that it may be according to my wishes,
that I may die for my Lord Jesus Christ. Ah,
Father, what else can I desire than to suffer
with Christ, to be rejected with Christ, to die a
thousand deaths that I may live eternally with
Christ ? If it be the glory of the soldier to be
like his Lord, far be it from me to glory in
aught save in the Cross of the Crucified ! Let
the executioners come, let them tear my body
to pieces, let them gnaw my flesh with their
teeth, let them pierce me through and through
and grind me to the dust. This momentary
suffering will work a weight of glory in Heaven.
Reverend Father, pray for me, a miserable
sinner, that I may be always in the Wounds
of the Crucified till death is swallowed up in
victory."
" For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
-PHIL. i. 21.
119
April 17
PRAYER FOR ENGLAND
t Yen. HENRY HEATH, O.S.F., 1643
ON his trial he said, " I came to this country
to free souls from the servitude of the devil
and to convert them from heresy." " Which
heresy?" they asked. "Protestant, Puritan,
Brownist, Anabaptist," I replied, " and many
others, for whoever professes these are rightly
called heretics." Again, " I was a Protestant
myself up to my twenty-fourth year, and pro
fessed the same heresy that you do now. But,
as Job says, 'Perish the day in which I was
born,' so I heap up curses and execrations on
the day on which I began to imbibe the Pro
testant superstition." As he was being dragged
to the hurdle he prayed God to remove the
darkness and blindness of the Protestants, and
on the scaffold, with the rope round his neck,
he protested that his return to England was for
no other design but to spend his life and labours
in the conversion of his country, and that for
this alone was he condemned to die. After he
had recited the hymn and prayer of St. Anicetus,
Pope and Martyr, whose day it was, he finished
his course praying, "Jesus, Mary — Jesus, for
give my sins ; Jesus, convert England ; Jesus,
have mercy on this country. O England,
turn thyself to the Lord thy God." Tyburn,
April 17, 1643.
" Convert us, O Lord, to Thee and we shall
be converted ; renew our days as from the
beginning." — LAM. v. 21.
120
April 1 8
THE BRIDE OF ST. FRANCIS
Yen. HENRY HEATH, O.S.F., 1643
HE was so attached to his habit — the pledge of
his poverty — that he altered it to the form of a
sailor's clothes when he set out for England.
At Dunkirk he declined the secular attire which
his brethren, by order of the Guardian, had
prepared for him, and on board ship refused
the offer of a German nobleman to defray his
expenses to London. Landed in England, he
begged his way, but with scant success, as the
whole country was astir with fresh anti-Catholic
persecution. He thus describes his arrest the
evening he entered London : " I arrived after
sunset, and went to the inn called l The Star,'
near the bridge of the city. But about eight
o'clock they turned me out, saying there was
no room for me there. Where should I turn,
poor and needy, without money and destitute
of all help? For I had come barefoot from
Dover, where I landed, and I had that day
walked forty miles. Overcome by fatigue, I
sat down to rest for a short time at the door of
a citizen, but the master of the house, finding
me there, asked me many questions, sent for a
constable, and in consequence of some papers
found on me I was imprisoned in the Compter."
" The foxes have holes, and the birds of the
air nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to
lay His head." — MATT.'viii. 30.
121
April 19
GOOD BOOKS
Ven. JAMES DUCKETT, L., 1602
BROUGHT up as a Protestant, he was ap
prenticed to a Catholic bookseller, Peter
Mason. After reading "The Foundation of
the Catholic Religion," Duckett ceased to
attend the Protestant Church, and was com
mitted to Bridewell for his persistent refusal to
go there. Being freed by his master's means,
he was a second time apprehended and sent
to the Compter. Again freed, he found means
of being reconciled, and after a while married
a good Catholic widow, Anne Cooper. They
supported themselves by making priests' vest
ments, altar necessaries, and publishing Catholic
books. On these being discovered, his house
was searched, and he was imprisoned for two
years in Newgate. Discharged on his wife's
petition, she being in labour, he was again im
prisoned for having bound certain Latin and
English primers, and was again sent to the
leads, Newgate. While in prison he printed
other Catholic books, and was cast into Limbo,
a dark dungeon traversed by the city sewer
with its poisonous filth. Freed yet once more,
he was again apprehended and hanged with his
betrayer, whom he forgave and kissed on the
scaffold. Of his twelve years of married life,
nine were passed in prison. He suffered at
Tyburn, April 19, 1602.
" They that instruct many to justice shall shine
as stars for all eternity."— DANIEL xii. 3.
122
April 20
PENITENT, MARTYR
t Yen. JAMES BELL, Pr., 1584
MADE priest in Queen Mary's days, on Eliza
beth's accession he suffered himself to be carried
away with the stream and conformed. For many
years he officiated as a Protestant minister in
divers parts of the Kingdom. At length, in
1581, through the remonstrances of a Catholic
matron together with a severe illness, grace
triumphed, and he was reconciled. After some
months spent in penitential" exercises he was
allowed to resume his priestly functions, and for
two years laboured diligently for souls. In
January 1 584 he was apprehended, and acknow
ledged himself a priest and his reconciliation to
the Church after having long gone astray. He
was sent from Manchester to Lancaster on horse
back, his arms tied behind him and his legs
lashed together under the horse's belly. At his
trial he showed great courage, and acknowledged
the Pope's supremacy against that of the Queen.
On being sentenced to death for high treason
he said to the judge, " I beg your lordship would
add to the sentence that my lips and the tops of
my fingers may be cut off for having sworn and
subscribed to the articles of heretics, contrary
both to my conscience and to God's truth." He
suffered with great joy at Lancaster, April 20,
1584.
"I saw his ways, and I healed him and brought
him back, and restored comforts to him and to
them that mourn for him." — ISA. Ivii. 18.
123
April 21
DEVOTION TO THE PRIESTHOOD
t Ven. THOMAS TICHBORNE, Pr., 1602
HE belonged to the ancient Catholic family of
Tichborne in Hampshire, and went to Rheims
to study in 1584, and thence to Rome in 1587.
Soon after his arrival in England he spent some
years in prison. His rescue, however, was
effected in a very daring manner. One Thomas
Hackshot, of Mursley, Buckinghamshire, with
Nicholas Tichborne, a cousin of Thomas, know
ing that the prisoner was to be conducted down
a certain street under charge of only one jailer,
laid wait for them, knocked down the jailer and
enabled the priest to escape. A hue and cry
was, however, soon raised, and both the rescuers
were apprehended and cast into prison. After
divers torments, which they endured with great
constancy, they were executed at Tyburn,
August 20, 1601. Thomas Tichborne fell again
into the hands of the persecutors through the
instrumentality of one Atkinson, an apostate
priest, who, meeting him in the street, shouted
out, " Stop the priest ! " to which Tichborne re
plied, with truth, " I am no more a priest than
yourself." Again committed to prison, he was
tried and sentenced solely on account of his
priesthood. He was far gone in fever, and re
joiced greatly that he was enabled to live till he
won his crown at Tyburn, April 20, 1602.
" For every High" Priest taken from among
men is ordained for men in the things that may
appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and
sacrifices for sins." — HEB. v. i.
124
April 22
AN UNEXPECTED CURE
Ven. ROBERT WATKINSON, Pr., 1602
HE was born at Hemingborough, Yorkshire,
educated at Douay and Rome, and ordained
priest at Arras, March 25, 1602. On April 3rd
the same year he crossed to England, and, being
in ill health, placed himself under the care of a
physician in London. On Friday, April 16,
while he was walking in the streets with another
Catholic, he met a stranger, in appearance a
venerable old man, who saluted him with these
words, " Jesus bless you, sir, you seem to be sick
and troubled with many infirmities ; but be of
good cheer, for within these four days you
shall be cured of all." And so it happened, for
the next day, Saturday, April 17, through the
treachery of an apostate priest, John Fawther,
he was apprehended, tried, and condemned, and
was executed on the Tuesday following, April
20, and so found rest. On the morning of the
execution he found means to say Mass in prison,
and those who were present, and especially Mr.
Henry Owen, his server, and a prisoner for
conscience' sake, attest that there glistened about
his head while he was celebrating a bright light
like a ray of glory, which from the Consecration
to the Communion rested directly over his head
and then disappeared. He suffered at Tyburn,
April 20, 1602.
" Come to Me all you that labour and are bur
dened, and I will refresh you." — MATT. xi. 28.
125
April 23
TEN JUST MEN
B. JOHN FISHER, Card. B., 1535
PREACHING on the Penitential Psalms he was
led to review and bewail the state of Chris
tendom, and unconsciously sketches his own
position in it.
" The religion of Christian Faith," he says, "is
greatly diminished ; we be very few ; and where
as sometime we were spread almost through
the world, now we be thrust down into a very
straight angle or corner. Our enemies held
away from us Asia and Africa, two of the
greatest parts of the world. Also, they hold
from us a great portion of this part, called
Europe, which we now inhabit, so that scant
the sixth part that we had in possession before
is left unto us. Besides this, our enemies daily
lay await to have this little portion. There
fore, good Lord, without Thy help, the name of
Christian men shall utterly be destroyed and
fordone. . . . Therefore, merciful Lord, exercise
Thy mercy, show it indeed upon Thy Church,
quia tempus est miserendi ejus. If there be
many righteous people in Thy Church militant,
hear us, wretched sinners, for the love of them ;
be merciful unto Zion, that is to say, to all Thy
Church. If in Thy Church be but a few
righteous persons, so much the more is our
wretchedness, and the more need we have of
Thy mercy."
"And Abraham said what if ten [just men]
be found there, and He said I will not destroy
it for the sake of ten." — GEN. xviii. 32.
126
April 24
ALWAYS THE SAME
B. JOHN FISHER, Card. B., 1535
BEING after his condemnation the space of four
days in his prison, he occupied himself in con
tinual prayer most fervently ; and although he
looked daily for death, yet could ye not have
perceived him one whit dismayed or disquieted
thereat, neither in word nor countenance, but
still continued his former trade of constancy
and patience, and that rather with a more joyful
cheer and free mind than ever he had done
before, which appeared well by this chance. A
false report of his execution having been fixed
for a certain day, the cook brought him no
dinner, and on the Bishop asking the reason,
the cook replied that he thought the Bishop
would be already dead, and that therefore it
would be vain to dress anything for him.
"Well," said the Bishop merrily to him again,
"for all that report thou seest me yet alive, and
therefore whatsoever news thou shalt hear of
me hereafter, let me no more lack my dinner,
but make it ready as thou art wont to do ; and
if thou see me dead, when thou comest, then
eat it thyself. But I promise thee, if I be alive,
I mind, by God's grace, to eat never a bit the
less."
"Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever
else you do, do all to the glory of God." —
i COR. x. 31.
127
April 25
ONE IN LIFE AND DEATH
t Ven. ROBERT ANDERTON and Yen.- W.
MARSDEN, Pr., 1586
THE Judge, Anderson, in the Isle of Wight,
though he consented to the prisoners being
found guilty of high treason, would not pro
nounce sentence of death without the authority
of the Queen, saying that this was her wish in
the case of Seminarists. On March 10, 1586,
they were therefore sent to the Marshalsea,
London, and were examined by two' of the
Privy Council, who soon managed to extract
treasonable matter from them. They were
asked if they would keep the promise they had
made never to try to persuade anybody in the
matter of religion. They denied ever having
made such a promise, and Anderton said, that
as he regarded every one outside the Unity of
the Church of Rome in danger of damnation,
he would be bound to endeavour to reclaim
them, and Marsden affirmed that to persuade
the people of the truth of Catholicism was
the one subject for which he had come to
the country. The Queen, therefore, the Pro
clamation said, could only let the law take its
course. They were sent back to the island,
and there " on some high ground in sight of the
moaning sea," the scaffold was erected, and re
fusing for the last time pardon as the price of
apostasy^ they together won their crown, April
25, 1586.
" Who then shall separate us from the love of
Christ ? "—ROM. viii. 35.
128
April 26
A CHEERFUL GIVER
f Yen. EDWARD MORGAN, Pr., 1642
BORN in Flintshire, ordained at Salamanca, he
was apprehended and confined in the Fleet for
some fourteen years. He suffered much from
the loathsomeness of the place and the want of
all necessaries, but further from a report spread
that he was mad ; but this slander he cheerfully
forgave with all other injuries. He was sen
tenced, on account of his priesthood, on April
23, the Feast of St. George the Martyr, the
patron of England, and he rejoiced in being
condemned on that day. After his condemna
tion many Protestants conferred with him to
their profit, and the Catholics who flocked to
him he comforted with many cheerful words.
On the day after his condemnation his devo
tion at his Mass was so inflamed that he said,
" Enough, O Lord, enough." On his way to
the scaffold his cheerfulness won the sym
pathy of the crowd, and not a single insult
was offered him. On the cart he preached on
the Good Shepherd, and that all should be
ready to die for Christ as He had died for us. At
the order to fasten him, he said, smiling, that he
hoped now to be sent to Heaven in a string. To
a minister who rebuked him for his levity he
answered, " What offence is there in going to
Heaven cheerfully?" He suffered at Tyburn,
April 26, 1642.
" God loveth a cheerful giver." — 2 COR. ix. 7.
129 i
April 27
LIGHT AND DARKNESS
Ven. FRANCIS PAGE, S.J., 1602
FATHER PAGE learnt from Mr. Floyd, a priest
and fellow-prisoner, that he was to die on the
morrow, for the keeper himself felt unable to
be the bearer of such tidings. Father Page re
ceived the message as from Heaven, and, having
celebrated the Holy Mysteries, was so filled
with joy and supernatural light that it seemed
as if nothing could separate him from the love
of his Lord. But that he might know that this
sensible devotion is God's free gift, and might
learn something also of the anguish and agony
of His Saviour in Gethsemane, he was of a
sudden deprived of these extraordinary favours,
and, like his Master, became sad, sorrowful,
even unto death. In his extremity of fear
and anguish he earnestly desired Mr. Floyd's
prayers, while his pallor betrayed his inward
conflict. The storm continued till the Sheriff
sent to him to prepare for death as the hour
was at hand. The message in a moment re
stored calm to his soul, and he went to meet
death with every sign of joy. The whole way
to Tyburn his soul was engaged in prayer, and
with the holy name of Jesus on his lips the cart
was drawn away. April 20, 1642.
"The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken
away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." — JOB
i. 21.
130
April 28
LOVE, EARTHLY AND HEAVENLY
Ven. FRANCIS PAGE, S.J., 1602
BROUGHT up a Protestant, he became clerk to
a lawyer, and fell in love with a young gentle
woman, a Catholic. Both on her account and by
the persuasion of a Catholic friend he began to
inquire into religion, was introduced to Father
Gerard Thomson and by him reconciled to the
Church. And this was not all. His heart be
came gradually weaned from earthly affection
and set upon higher things. Renouncing there
fore the advantageous match now within his
grasp, he entered Douay College, was or
dained priest, and went on the English Mission,
June 10, 1600. After a narrow escape from the
pursuivants in the house of Mrs. Line, he pur
sued his missionary labours till he was thus
arrested. One night when on his priestly duties
he perceived a woman following him whom he
knew as an apostate and a priest-catcher, and
therefore took shelter in the house of a Pro
testant. The woman raised a cry that a priest
was within, and the man of the house delivered
Mr. Page to the constables. He was taken to
Newgate and tried before Justice Popham, who
had condemned Mrs. Line, and knowing that
Mr. Page had escaped from her house, at the
next sessions, merely on account of his priest
hood, condemned him to death, 1602.
" With the robe of justice he hath covered
me, as a bridegroom decked with a crown, and
a bride adorned with her jewels." — ISA. Ixi. 10.
April 29
IN THE WAVES
Ven. ROBERT ANDERTON and Ven. W.
MARSDEN, Pr., 1586
ANDERTON was of an honourable family in
Lancashire and Marsden was of the same
county. Both were at Oxford together, Ander-
ton at St. Mary's Hall, Marsden at Brazenose.
Both were drawn to the Church, went together to
Rheims and were reconciled and ordained by
the Cardinal of Guise. Anderton was an ex
cellent preacher and a good Hebrew scholar,
and when the Junior School at Rheims was
opened he and Marsden were chosen to be
prefects over the boys. In 1586 they embarked
for England and were caught in so heavy a
storm in mid-channel that the sailors gave them
selves up for lost. But the martyrs threw them
selves on their knees and made this prayer
together : " O Lord, Thy will be done, but if we
are to die, suffer us to die for Thy sake in our
own country. Spare us, O Lord, and hear our
prayers. Let us be taken on the English coast,
but not swallowed up by the waves." Their
prayer was heard ; the ship reached the Isle of
Wight in safety. But the islanders were bitter
heretics, with scarce a Catholic in the place, and
proved more cruel than the waves. No sooner
had the martyrs entered the town than they
were recognised, seized, and cast into prison.
" And they came to Him saying, Lord, save
us ; we perish." — MATT. viii. 25.
132
April 30
THE PHARISEES SILENCED
Ven. ROBERT ANDERTON, Pr., 1586
JUDGING from his youth that he would make
short work with him, the examining- Protestant
Bishop of Winchester was surprised to find his
arguments completely disposed of, and the
audience scarce concealing their mirth and on
the side of the priest. He betook himself,
therefore, to abuse, and taunted the priests with
the foulness of Pope Joan, and dilated on that
fable with many words. To this Anderton
replied, the audience listening with eager ears
for what the martyrs would answer : " Although
it is very easy to refute this fable, being the foul
fabrication of heretics long since exploded, yet
if it were true, surely, my Lord, it was not for you
to propound so absurd a contumely." " Why ?"
asked the other. " Because," said Anderton,
" the basis of your faith, the citadel of your reli
gion, is this, that you profess a woman to be
the head of your Church. Surely whether we
call her Pope Joan or Queen Elizabeth matters
little. With what face, then, can you object
that to us as an infamy which is your special
glory ? How taunt the Roman See with that
which you proudly regard as the bulwark of
your religion?" The bishop being silenced,
and not daring to utter a word in reply, was the
laughing-stock of all.
"And they could not answer Him to these
things."— LUKE xiv. 6.
133
May i
THE WITNESS OF TRADITION
B. RICHARD REYNOLDS, Bridgettine, 1535
INTERROGATED by the Chancellor why he had
persisted in an opinion against which so many
lords and bishops in Parliament and the whole
realm had decreed, he replied : " I had intended
to imitate our Lord Jesus Christ when He was
questioned by Herod and not to answer. But
since you compel me to clear both my own
conscience and that of the bystanders, I say
that ifwe propose to maintain opinions by proofs,
testimonies, or reasons, mine will be far stronger
than yours, because I have all the rest of
Christendom in my favour. I dare even say all
this kingdom, although the smaller part holds
with you, for I am sure the larger part is at
heart of our opinion, although outwardly, partly
from fear and partly from hope, they profess to
be of yours." On this he was commanded by the
Secretary, under the heaviest penalties of the
law, to declare who held with him. He replied :
" All good men of the kingdom hold with me."
He added : "As to proofs of dead witnesses, I
have in my favour all the general councils, all
the historians, the holy doctors of the Church
for the last fifteen hundred years, especially St.
Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and St.
Gregory."
"Remove not the ancient landmarks which
thy fathers have set." — PROV. xxii. 28.
134
May 2
MASS OF THE HOLY GHOST
B. HOUGHTON, Proto- Martyr, Carthusian,
1535
DURING three days he prepared his brethren
for their Passion. On the first, he urged them
all to purify their hearts by a general confes
sion ; on the second day he made them a
pathetic address on the subject of charity,
patience, and a firm adherence to God in the
day of trial, ending with the words, " It is
better for us to undergo a short suffering here
for our sins than to lay up for ourselves eternal
torments." Then on his knees he asked for
giveness of his religious before each in turn,
down to the last lay brother, and all the
brethren did the same. The third day being
come, he offered a solemn Votive Mass of the
Holy Ghost to obtain the special graces they
would all need. At the moment of the Eleva
tion there was heard the sound of a gentle wind,
perceptible to the bodily ear, but much more
to the hearts of all present. For a long time
he was unable to go on with his Mass, and all
the rest were filled with a spirit of joy ; whilst
afterwards, as they spoke of what had happened,
the Prior attributed it to the devotion of his
sons, and they to the sanctity of their Father.
"The Spirit also helpeth our infirmity." —
ROM. viii. 26.
135
May 3
THE SEAL OF CONFESSION
t Father HENRY GARNET, S.J., 1606
HE was educated at Winchester, but became a
Catholic, entered the Society, and succeeded
Father Weston as Provincial in England. At
that time a plot was being formed, chiefly by
one Catesby, to blow up the Houses of Parlia
ment, and he, to draw the Jesuits into the affair,
revealed it in confession to Father Greenaway,
S J., who represented to him the wickedness of
the project, and obtained his leave to communi
cate it in confession to Father Garnet. He in
turn did his best to dissuade Catesby from his
design, but was soon after betrayed and appre
hended. Repeated examinations failing to dis
cover his guilt, Cecil had him lodged next to
Father Oldcorne, and intimated through the
jailer that they might converse through a chink
in the wall ; at the same time he placed two
spies to overhear what was said. Father Garnet,
suspecting nothing, told Father Oldcorne that
only one man on earth knew of his being privy
to the plot. This the spies repeated. Father
Garnet was again examined and racked. He
admitted that he had been told of the plot, but
under the seal of confession, and could not
therefore divulge it without the leave, of the
penitent. He was condemned and executed.
St. Paul's Churchyard, May 3, 1606.
" Give not that which is holy to dogs." —
MATT. vii. 6.
136
May 4
HOLY WRATH
f B. JOHN HAILE, Pr., 1535
FELLOW of King's College, Cambridge, Vicar
of Chelmsford, he was promoted to Isle worth,
August 13, 1521. Little is known of his history
beyond that he was respected for his edifying
life. When in 1533, Henry repudiating his mar
riage with Catherine, Anne Boleyn was crowned
Queen, June 2, and the succession settled on
her offspring, the aged Vicar was grievously
scandalised. He confided to a neighbouring
priest, Fern of Teddington, his sorrow for the
evil of the times ; he reprobated the King's
cruelty in oppressingand despoiling the Church,
declared him a heretic, denounced his vile life
and vicious court, and his unfaithfulness to
Catherine, and characterised his marriage with
Anne as not only the highest shame and undoing
of himself, but also of this realm. " Three parts
of England are against the King."he added, "and
the Commons see well enough a sufficient cause
of rebellion and insurrection, and we of the
Church shall never live merrily till that day
come." For these words he was indicted on the
evidence of Fern and other priests in whom he
had confided, and was executed at Tyburn, and
is beatified as having suffered for the Faith in
resisting the Royal Supremacy.
1
" With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord
of Hosts, because the children of Israel have for
saken Thy covenant, have destroyed Thy altars
and slain Thy prophets." — 3 KINGS xix. 14.
137
May 5
THE VOICE OF THE BRIDEGROOM
BB. HOUGHTON, LAWRENCE AND WEBSTER,
Carthusians, 1535
JOHN HOUGHTON was born in Essex, 1847,
educated at Cambridge during the Chancellor
ship of B. John Fisher, and, to avoid his parents'
matrimonial plans for him, took refuge with a
priest and was ordained. After four years of his
priesthood he entered the London Charterhouse,
of which he became Prior, and was pre-eminent
for his observance, mortification, and silence.
When the oath of Supremacy was about to be
tendered he was joined by Prior Lawrence from
Beauvale and Prior Webster from Oxholme.
After trying in vain to obtain some mitigation of
the oath, which they refused to take in its present
form, they were committed to the Tower, when
the King's Commissaries and Cromwell himself
endeavoured uselessly to gain their submission.
On April 29 they were tried in Westminster, and
the jury, after twenty-four hours' delay, terrified
by Cromwell's threats, found them guilty of high
treason. On May 4, 1535, they were dragged in
their habits on the hurdles to Tyburn, and were
the first of Henry's victims to gain the Martyr's
crown. As B. Thomas More saw them pass,
from his cell in the Tower, he said they looked
as " cheerful as if they were bridegrooms going
to their marriage." And their bright and smiling
countenances were unchanged to the end.
" The friend of the bridegroom who standeth
and heareth Him rejoiceth with joy, because of
the bridegroom's voice." — JOHN iii. 29.
138
May 6
A MODEL OF THE FLOCK
B. RICHARD REYNOLDS, Bridgettine, 1535
EDUCATED at Christ's College he became a
monk at Syon House and suffered for refusing
the oath of Supremacy at Tyburn, May 4, 1535.
Cardinal Pole thus wrote in his praise : " One
of these martyrs I must not pass over without
a special notice, as he was intimately known to
myself. Reynolds was his name, and he was
one who for the sanctity of his life might be
compared with the very first of those who pro
fess the more exact rule of conduct according to
the discipline of Christ, and had, moreover, a
more than common knowledge of all the liberal
arts, derived too from the original sources. He
was well acquainted with the three chief lan
guages, in which all liberal learning is comprised,
and of all the monks in England was the only
one who had this knowledge. To manifest to
all futurity the praises of his sanctity and doc
trine, and to show the height of his piety to Christ
and his charity towards his country, one thing
only seemed to be wanting, that in company with
the other heroes he should in this time of so great
need give testimony to the truth with his own
blood, as he did. O blessed man ! truly worthy
of the fullest confidence of thee, O my country ! "
" Being made a pattern of the flock from the
heart."— i PETER v. 3.
139
May 7
HOLY FEAR
B. THOMAS COTTAM, Pr., 1582
OF Brazenose College, Oxford, then a school
master in London, well known and beloved, he
embraced the faith, and entered the English
College at Rome. On his departing thence for
Rheims the porter said to him: "Beware lest
some other receive your crown." At Rheims
he obtained leave to be ordained before his
studies were completed, owing both to his bad
health and his zeal for the mission. On landing
at Dover in June 1580 he was apprehended and
sent to London under charge of one Havard,
who was secretly a Catholic, and who, arriving
in London, dismissed him. Father Cottam
wished to give himself up, so fearful was he of
losing his crown, but was dissuaded by the fact
that in doing so he would wilfully imperil his
own life. At length, Havard being in danger
for allowing his escape, he yielded himself to
the law officer, saying: " Now God be thanked,
for I was never quiet in my mind since I was
let go. There was ever in my head what the
porter at St. Andrews said to me." On hearing
that his execution was fixed for the morrow, he
exclaimed with joy, " God be praised, to-morrow
is my day ; my name is first on the list."
" The fear of the Lord is honour and glory and
gladness and a crown of joy." — ECCLUS. i. n.
140
May 8
A GARMENT OF CAMEL'S HAIR
B. THOMAS COTTAM, Pr.
THEN the Sheriff said to him, " Yet, Cottam, call
for mercy and confess, and no doubt the Queen
will be merciful unto you." Who answered, " My
conscience giveth me a clear testimony that I
never offended her." Adding that all that he
did here suffer was for saving his soul ; desiring
Almighty God, for His sweet Son's sake, that
He would vouchsafe to take him to His mercy ;
saying that Him only he had offended. And
then he prayed, desiring forgiveness of all the
world, and saying that he did from the bottom
of his heart forgive all. Adding that the sins
of this realm have deserved infinite punishment
and God's just indignation, and desiring him of
his mercy that he would call this people to
repentance to see and acknowledge their sins.
Then he begged all Catholics to pray with him,
and, having said his Pater, and being in the
middle of his Ave, the cart was driven away.
He hanged till he was dead, and being stripped
he was found to wear next his skin a shirt
of very coarse canvas, without sleeves, which
reached down beneath his middle, which was
like in the nature of a hair shirt for the punish
ment of his body, with which kind of things
England is not now acquainted.
"Those who are Christ's have crucified the
flesh with its vices and concupiscences." —
GAL. v. 24.
141
May 9
A JOYFUL COUNTENANCE
t B. THOMAS PICKERING, O.S.B., 1679
HE was a professed lay brother in the Bene
dictine Monastery at Douay, anc} was appre
hended at the beginning of the Gates Plot.
Gates and Bedloe swore that Pickering and
Grove were appointed to kill the King, the latter
receiving ,£15,000, the former, being a priest,
30,000 Masses. Pickering, they swore, had
made three attempts on the King's life in
St. James5 Park ; at the first the flint of the pistol
was loose ; at the second there was no powder ;
at the third no bullets. Both prisoners absolutely
denied the story, and Pickering swore he had
never fired a pistol in his life. He was con
demned with Ireland and Grove, but reprieved
till May 9. At his execution he expressed great
joy at giving his life for God and religion, that
being his only fault. Taxed with being a priest,
he replied, with a smile, " No, I am only a lay
brother." At the moment of his hanging he was
called upon again to confess his fault, at which,
pulling up his cap and showing his innocent,
smiling countenance, he said, "Is this the face
of a dying criminal ? " And so he went with a
smile to his God, the most harmless of men, the
most unlikely, and the most unfit for an attempt
to murder. He suffered at Tyburn, May 9, 1679.
" The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is
signed upon us. Thou hast given gladness in
my heart." — Ps. iv. 7.
142
May 10
THE TRUE PLOTTERS
B. RICHARD NEWPORT, Pr., 1612
HE was a priest of great zeal who had twice
been imprisoned and banished, when he was
apprehended on his third return to the English
Mission. His trial was the day following that
of V. Scot. He owned himself a priest, but
denied being a traitor, or that the new laws of
England could be of any force against the law
of God, or that authority which Jesus Christ had
given to priests in these words : " Go, teach all
nations," and said that by the laws as now made
Christ Himself might be condemned as a priest.
The recorder told him that priests were the first
men who had plotted against his present Ma
jesty (James I). "No, no," said Mr. Newport,
"but Protestants and Puritans were the first
men that plotted against him, and sought to rob
him of his life whilst he was yet in his mother's
womb." He defended himself with great con
stancy and fortitude, and seemed very unwilling
that his blood should lie at the door of the poor
ignorant jury, who through fear would condemn
him, but was obliged to acquiesce in the action
of the law. He received his death sentence
with much cheerfulness, and suffered in con
junction with V. Scot at Tyburn, May 30, 1612.
" If thou release this man thou art not Caesar's
friend." — JOHN xix. 17.
May 1 1
A VIOLATED CLOISTER
t BB. JOHN ROCHESTER and JOHN
WALWORTH, Carthusians, 1537
Six Carthusians had now won their crowns, and
Europe had stood aghast at the cold-blooded
murder. Fearful of rousing further indignation
by continual slaughter, Henry VIII found other
means of persecuting the Brethren who re
mained. They were debarred intercourse with
their extern friends. Two lay commissioners
were introduced into the Convent without any
pretence of law. Their usual penitential diet
was reduced to a minimum. Insolent strangers
would hustle and even strike them in the corri
dors ; others would try to entrap them in dis
pute or harangue them in the chapter. Yet
the solitude and silence of their life were strictly
observed ; with few exceptions all lived in
charity and sought to bear each other's burdens,
whilst the holy offices of the Church were per
formed with the usual care and recollection.
When the persecution had lasted a year without
success, four of the most influential members
were sent to distant houses of the Order. Of
these Dom. John Rochester and Dom. John
Walworth were sent to Hull, and after some
months, having Droved their constancy there as
fully as they had in London, they were hanged
as recusants, York, May u, 1537.
"The City of the Sanctuary has become a
desert, Sion is made a desert, Jerusalem is
desolate."— ISA. Ixiv. 10.
144
May 12
CALLED BY NAME
B. JOHN STONE, Augustinian, 1538
HE belonged to the Convent of the Augustinian
Friars, which had been founded in the parish of
St. George in Canterbury in 1325 during the
reign of Edward III. The House had produced
a well-known ecclesiastical writer, the learned
John Copgrave, but its honour culminated in
being the home of B. John. For resisting the
King's spiritual supremacy he was thrown into
prison, and Nicholas Harpsfield, Archdeacon
of Canterbury, his intimate friend, under the
name of Alan Cope, records the following
event as having occurred during his confine
ment : " When he was offering fervent prayer
to God after an uninterrupted fast of three days,
he heard a voice, but seeing no one, calling him
by name and exhorting him to be of good cour
age and suffer with constancy for the opinions
he had professed. This heavenly message so
much renewed his fervour that no persuasions
or terrors could disturb his devotion. No
details of his martyrdom finally reached us, but
the Corporation of Canterbury account book
gives the items of the expenses incurred for the
gallows, the carpenter, the hurdle and horse, the
halters, and the executioner — the implements of
his Passion hallowed now by his holy blood."
"Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth."—
I KINGS iii. 10.
M5 K
May 13
A ROYAL PENITENT
CATHERINE OF ARAGON TO B. JOHN
FOREST (i)
"Mv venerated Father, — You who have been
accustomed to advise others in doubtful cases
know best what advice to give to yourself ; and
with your piety and learning you know without
doubt, and even desire if need be for the Name
of Christ to undergo death and refuse nothing
in such a cause. Be brave, then, and courageous,
for if in these torments you have some pain to
bear you will receive an eternal reward, which
if any one were to be ready to lose both you
and I would count him to be mad. But, alas,
you leave me, your daughter, born to you in the
Wounds of Christ, for a time at least you leave
me in the greatest sorrow, for I am losing in
you the man who has taught me the most in
divine things. If I may freely say my wish, I
had rather go before you through a thousand
torments than follow you after a time. Yet I
trust in the Lord that I shall see you not very
long hence, when I shall be taken to the calm
life of the blessed. Farewell, my honoured
Father, commend me always to God, now and
from your place in Heaven. — Your most sorrow
ful daughter, CATHERINE."
"Whither thou goest, I will go; and where
thou dwellest, I will dwell ; thy people shall be
my people, and thy God my God." — RUTH i. 16.
146
May 14
ONE ONLY GOSPEL
B. JOHN FOREST TO QUEEN CATHERINE (2)
" MOST Serene Lady and Queen, my daughter
most dear in the bowels of Christ, — When I
read your letter I was filled with incredible joy,
because I saw how great is your constancy in
the Faith. In this, if you persevere, without
doubt you will attain salvation. Doubt not of
me that by any inconstancy I should disgrace
my grey hairs. Meanwhile I earnestly beg
your steadfast prayers to God, for whose spouse
we suffer torments, to receive me into His glory.
For it have I striven these four and forty years
in the Order of St. Francis. Meanwhile do you
keep free from the pestilent doctrine of the
heretics, so that if even an angel should come
down from Heaven and bring you another
doctrine from that which I have taught you,
give no credit to his words, but reject him ; for
that other doctrine does not come from God.
These few words you must take in lieu of con
solation ; but that you will receive from our
Lord Jesus Christ, to whom I specially com
mend you, to my father Francis, to St. Catherine ;
and when you hear of my execution, I heartily
beg of you to pray for me to her. I send you
my rosary, as I have but three days to live."
"But though we or an angel from heaver
preach a gospel to you beside that which we
have preached to you, let him be anathema."—
GAL. i. 8.
147
May 15
POINTS IN CONTROVERSY
B. RICHARD THIRKELL, 1583
IN his examination the martyr forcibly told the
Dean of York and his assessors that they were
in no sense members of the Catholic Church.
The Dean admitted that the Catholic faith had
flourished in the Roman Church during some
centuries, but asserted that it had afterwards
died out. Thereupon Father Thirkell inquired
in what year, under what Pontiff or Emperor
this change had taken place ? Who were the
assailants of the primitive faith ? Why was it
not defended ? The Dean could only reply that
it had crept in imperceptibly. Then he attacked
the invocation of the Saints, and the martyr
offered to defend it from St. Augustine. At first
the Dean pretended to accept the challenge in
order to see if the priest was in earnest ; but
seeing he was prepared to prove his point, he
said that this doctrine was a novelty introduced
into the Church but little before the time of
St. Augustine. Then the Dean began to abuse
the Pope, calling him Anti-Christ. Thereupon
the martyr cried out, " The Pope is the Vicar
of Christ on earth, and the Supreme Head of
the Church." The Dean in a fury of passion
leaped from his chair, declaring that he would
not suffer such language.
" Carefully study to present thyself approved
unto God a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." —
2 TIM. ii. 15, 16.
148
May 1 6
THE CONFESSIONS OF AN APOSTATE
NICHOLS TO B. LUKE KIRBY, 1582
"WITHIN these few days John Nichols (an
apostate priest and informer) came to my
chamber window, with humble submission, to
crave mercy for all his treacheries against us,
and to acknowledge his books, sermons, and
infamous speeches to be wicked, false, and
execrable before God and man, and committed
to writing and to the view of the world only
for preferment and favour of the nobility. In
detestation of his own doings and their wicked
ness, he is minded never hereafter to ascend
the pulpit or deal in any matter of religion. In
proof thereof he showed me his new disguised
apparel under his minister's weed, and he
offered to go to Secretary Walsingham and
show how treacherously I had been condemned.
To give my censure and judgment of him;
certain I think he will within a short time fall
into infidelity, except God of His goodness
reclaim him to the Catholic faith. Yet it
seemeth he hath not lost all good gifts of
nature, since his conscience pricketh him to
open the truth in our defence, and to detest his
own wickedness. Now I see, as all the world
hereafter shall easily perceive, rather than God
will have wilful murder concealed, He procureth
the birds of the air to reveal it."
"A man that is an apostate with a wicked
heart deviseth evil, and at all times soweth
discord." — PROV. vi. 12, 14.
149
May 17
DEVOTION TO RELICS
MARY HUTTON, 1583
LEST the faithful might gather up any of the
Martyr's blood, a great fire of straw was made
to consume its last drop. B. R. Thirkell's
head was parboiled in a cauldron, and, it would
seem, set up beside that of B. William Hart,
on stakes outside the leads of the Ousebridge
prison. Mary Hutton, the wife of the Con
fessor William Hutton, was imprisoned in a
chamber next these leads — women in these days
having to suffer for their faith as well as men.
Within a few days after it had been exposed,
both heads disappeared. Mary Hutton was
naturally suspected of having removed them,
and was threatened with hanging unless she
confessed to the fact. Her little children, who
were imprisoned with their mother (the eldest
was less than nine years old), were brought
before the magistrates, with four beadles carry
ing great birch rods, and were thus terrified
into confessing that their mother had removed
the martyrs' heads. She was thrust into the
underground hole, called the "low place," of
the prison among the felons. As the place
was already infected by a prisoner who had
died there, this was tantamont to a sentence of
death, and, in fact, Mary Hutton died there of
the gaol fever within a month, 1583.
" The Lord keepeth all their bones ; not one
of them shall be broken." — Ps. xxxiii. 21.
150
May 1 8
THE MOTHER OF THE MACHABEES
B. MARGARET POLE, W., 1541
DAUGHTER of the Duke of Clarence, grand
daughter of the Earl of Warwick, Margaret
knew only sorrow from her birth. Before her
fifth year her mother died and her father was
found dead in the Tower. Her cousins and
playmates, the Prince of Wales, now Edward V,
and his brother Richard, Duke of York, were
murdered. Her only brother, Edward, Earl of
Warwick, was executed when she was but
twenty-two. Married to Sir Richard Pole,
after a few years she was left a widow with
five children. Henry VIII, who revered her
then for her holiness, reversed her husband's
attainder, created her Countess of Salisbury,
and made her sponsor to Catherine of Aragon's
infant child, the future Queen Mary, and
governess of her household. But the opposition
of Margaret's son, the exiled Cardinal Pole, to
Catherine's divorce embittered the King, and
to make Pole " eat his heart," as Cromwell said,
Margaret's eldest son, Lord Montagu, and her
little grandson, the only hope of the family,
were executed. Margaret herself was arrested,
and, after three years' confinement, condemned
for treason, a tunic embroidered with the Five
Wounds being proof thereof, and at the age
of seventy the last of the Plantagenets won her
crown on Tower Hill, May 28, 1541.
"And last of all after the sons the mother
also was consumed." — 2 MACH. vii. 41.
May 19
COME QUICKLY
t Yen. PETER WRIGHT, S.J., 1651
BORN of poor but virtuous parents in North
amptonshire, he lost his father in his boy
hood, and entered the service of a country
lawyer. Living amongst Protestants he con
formed, but after a while regained his faith,
and, going abroad, was reconciled and became
a Jesuit priest. He served first as chaplain to
the English soldiers in Flanders, where Colonel
Sir Henry Gage became his inseparable com
panion, and, after his death, in the Civil War,
he lived with the family of the Marquis of
Winchester. There on Candlemas Day, 1651,
as he was about to say Mass, the pursuivants
entered the house. Father Wright escaped to
the leads, but was speedily captured. Sentenced
to death through the evidence of some apostate,
he said joyfully, "God Almighty's Holy Name
be blessed now and for evermore." During the
three days before his execution he confessed
and consoled the troops of Catholics who visited
him, and for his own part he made a general
confession of his life, celebrated Mass daily, and
confided to his brother priest that he had never
experienced such joy as at the approach of
death. On Whit-Monday morning, hearing the
knocking at the grate, he took it as a summons
from Heaven, and said : " I come, sweet Jesus,
I come." He suffered at Tyburn, May 19,
1651.
" Surely I come quickly: Amen. Come, Lord
Jesus." — APOC. xxii. 20.
152
May 20
PRAYERS IN LATIN
B. ROBERT JOHNSON, Pr., 1582
BORN in Shropshire, he became a gentleman's
servant, but went abroad, was ordained priest
at Douay, and was sent on the English Mission
in 1576. In December 1580, after being
arrested, he was sent to the Tower, was three
times most cruelly racked, and in November
1581 was sentenced, but his execution was post
poned till May 28, 1582. On the scaffold he
answered the Sheriff that Elizabeth was as
much Head of the Church as Mary had b.een.
The Sheriff replied : " Thou art a traitor most
obstinate." " If I be a traitor for holding the
faith, then all our kings and queens and all
our ancestors were traitors, for they maintained
the same." Hereupon the rope was put about
his neck, and he was willed to pray, which he
did in Latin. They willed him to pray in
English that they might witness with him : he
said, " I pray that prayer which Christ taught,
in a tongue I well understand." A minister
cried out, "Pray as Christ taught." To whom
Mr. Johnson replied, " What ! do you think
Christ taught in English?" And so won his
crown with the Church's words on his lips.
"And their children spoke half in the speech
of Azotus, and could not speak the Jews'
language, and they spoke according to the
language of this and that people, and I chid
them and laid my curse upon them." — 2 ESDRAS
xiii. 24, 25.
153
May 21
HUNG ON PRESUMPTION
Ven. WILLIAM SCOT, O.S.B.
AT Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he was converted
by reading Catholic books, and became a
Benedictine at Valladolid. He was several
times in prison. At his first examination before
the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury,
George Abbot, a noted bigot, he refused the
oath of allegiance, but neither confessed nor
denied his priesthood. The chief proof brought
for his being a priest was, that as he came by
water from Gravesend to London, for safety's
sake, he flung into the Thames a little bag con
taining his breviary, faculties, and some medals
and crosses, which a fisherman catching in his
net had carried to the said George Abbot. At
Newgate, before the Recorder, King Bishop of
London, and others, he pleaded not guilty, and
demanded legal proof that he was a priest, and
he told the Bishop it did not become one of
his cloth to* meddle in causes of life and death.
The Bishop urged against him the fact of a
paper giving leave to say Mass above or below
ground being found in the bag. "Giving
leave," said F. Scot ; " but to whom ? Was my
name there expressed? If not, your lordship
might have kept that argument to yourself, with
the rest of the things in the bag." Upon mere
presumption he was sentenced and suffered,
Tyburn, May 30, 1612.
"Thy princes are faithless companions of
thieves ; they all love bribes, they run after
rewards."— ISA. i. 23.
154
May 22
A LIVING HOLOCAUST
f B. JOHN FOREST, O.S.F., 1538
FRANCISCAN at the age of seventeen, professed
Observant at Greenwich, Confessor of Queen
Catherine of Aragon, as a strenuous opposer of
the divorce he was imprisoned for two years at
Newgate. There he composed a book on the
Authority of the Church and the Pope, for which
he was condemned to die, but neither torture nor
coming death could force him to acknowledge
the King's supremacy. After three years' delay
he was sentenced to be burnt as a heretic. On
the stand at Smithfield he faced the Lords of the
Council, with Latimer mounted on a pulpit. To
the apostate's heretical invectives the martyrs
rejoinders were so complete that Latimer in his
rage exclaimed, "Burn him, burn him ! his words
are enough." He was carried to the gibbet and
suspended by a chain round the waist over the
pile prepared. The flames were kindled and
further fed by the image of a saint cast into the
burning mass. The martyr prayed ; " Neither
fire, faggot, nor scaffold shall separate me from
Thee, O Lord." His sufferings were prolonged
by a high wind scattering the flames. He bore
the agony with invincible patience, and with the
ascending flames the holocaust was consumed.
He suffered at Smithfield, May 22, 1538.
"And he went up and offered holocausts and
his own sacrifice." — 4 KINGS xvi. 12.
155
May 23
PATIENCE UNDER CALUMNY
B. LAWRENCE RICHARDSON, Pr., 1582
BORN in Lancashire, of Brasenose College, he
was reconciled, and returned from Douay as a
priest in 1577. He laboured with great success
in his own country, residing, apparently as a
schoolmaster, in the house of Mr. Houghton of
Park Hall. He there, however, became the
subject of a vile calumny. Mr. Houghton had
re-married, and his three children by his first
wife, a son and two daughters, for some unknown
reason insinuated that the priest was unduly
familiar with their stepmother, "a young gentle
woman, very virtuous and wise." When the
slander became known to B. Lawrence he ex
horted the lady to patience and continuance in
virtue, and himself repaired to London, where
one Mr. Blundell had commissioned him to
obtain some money owing from his cousin.
Lawrence found the cousin, who promised to
bring him the money, but returned with two
sergeants to arrest him, and his trial and death
speedily followed. Thus the very slander, far
from causing the injury intended, indirectly pro
cured him the Martyr's crown. The slandered
lady closed a holy life by a blessed death, while
the three calumniators fell into such great
misery that it was regarded as a judgment of
God. He suffered at Tyburn, May 31, 1582.
" I have done judgment and justice : give me
not up to them that slander me. Uphold Thy
servant unto good." — Ps. cxviii. 121, 122.
156
May 24
A CATHOLIC CAVALIER
WILLIAM BLUNDELL, 1695
BORN at Crosby Hall, Lancashire, 1620, he lost
his father in 1631. He married, at the age of
fifteen, Ann Haynston, to enable his grandfather
to resettle the estates, and thus preserve them
from the grasp of the Crown as recusants by
giving the holder only a life interest. He was
a keen sportsman and fond of gaiety, and later
in life regretted the excessive expenses thus in
curred. At the break out of the Civil War, as a
Captain of Dragoons, he espoused with ardour
the Royal cause. In the assault on Lancashire
his thigh was shattered by a musket shot, and
he was crippled for the remainder of his life.
During the next ten years he was frequently
imprisoned, and his estate was sequestrated.
He went abroad, taking two of his daughters
to enter religion at Rouen, but returned with
Charles IPs accession. Proscribed by Titus
Gates, he declined to go abroad, preferring, he
said, his plundered bare walls and a pair of
crutches to an outlaw's life. In 1674 he was at
the first imprisoned lest he should join James II
in Ireland; and in 1695, when he was seventy-
five years old, his arrest was attempted, but he
was too crippled to be moved. That year he
died, having sacrificed limbs, liberty, and goods
for his faith and the throne.
" Fear God : honour the king." — i PET ii. 17.
157
May 25
REFUSING A CHALLENGE
W. BLUNDELL, a Catholic Cavalier, 1695
EXPECTING a challenge to a duel from Colonel
Moore, of Bank Hall, a neighbouring Pro
testant magistrate, he prepared in anticipa
tion the following reply : " I have lost much
blood in defence of the laws [and will not
hazard any to break them. I confess I dare
not be damned on any account, and am un
willing to be hanged on this. I have not
learnt the ways to evade the hands of justice
when I am guilty of blood. In short, I will
neither meet you nor any man, how strong or
weak he may be, with so bad a design, and I
propose by God's assistance, that the most
public or great affront that malice shall devise
against me shall not move me from this reso
lution. If I have done wrong to you or any
man else, I will hazard my blood and fortune
in a just and honourable way so far to make
amends ; and in this I shall always be willing
to submit to indifferent judges. In the mean
time if this answer displease you, I shall never
decline the walks to which my business leads
me, out of any fear of your sword. But if you
interpret and pervert this to be the answer of a
coward, I will clearly evince the contrary to you
and to all the world."
" Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood
shall be shed."— GEN. ix. 6.
158
May 26
PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
B. JOHN SHERT, Pr., 1582
BORN in Cheshire, of Brasenose College, Ox
ford, then a noted schoolmaster in London, he
went abroad, was reconciled to the Church, and
returned as a priest in 1579. After three years'
labour he was apprehended and condemned in
November 1581. Seeing at Tyburn his com
panion F. Ford hanged up before him, bright
and smiling, with uplifted hands, he exclaimed :
" O happy Thomas ! Happy art thou that didst
run that happy race ! O benedicta anima ! O
blessed soul, thou art in a good case ! Thou
blessed soul, pray for me." Being rebuked for
praying to the dead, he said : " O blessed Lady,
Mother of God, pray for me, and all the Saints
of Heaven pray for me." After which he made
this act of thanksgiving : " O blessed Lord, to
Thee be all honour and praise. I give most
hearty thanks for that Thou didst create me
out of nothing to Thy likeness and similitude.
Secondly for my redemption by Thy sweet Son
Jesus Christ, my Saviour and Redeemer ; and
lastly, that Thou wilt bring me, Thy poor ser
vant, to so happy a death for Thy sake ; to
the world shameful yet to me most joyful and
glorious, and for which I yield Thee most hearty
thanks." Then, after again denying the charge
of treason, he finished his course, Tyburn, May
28, 1582.
" Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay
thy vows to the Most High." — Ps. xlix. 14.
159
May 27
FATHER FORGIVE THEM
B. THOMAS COTTAM, 1582
HE was kept on the cart, whilst his companions,
Mr. Kirby and Mr. Richardson, priests and
graduates, were in turn hung, cut down, and
quartered, that the sight of their sufferings
might prevail upon him to yield. But Mr.
Cottam signed himself with the sign of the
cross, saying, " In nomine Patris," &c., and
turning to the crowd with a smiling countenance
he said, " God bless you all. Our Lord bless
you all,53 and was rebuked by a minister for
making a jest of another preacher, who cried,
" Despatch, despatch ! " to hurry up the execu
tioner. Whilst they were talking round him,
Mr. Cottam took Bull, the hangman, by the
sleeve and said to him, " God forgive thee and
make thee His servant ; take heed in time and
call for grace, and no doubt but God will hear
thee. Take example by the executioner of St.
Paul, who during the time of the saint's exe
cution, a little drop of blood falling from St.
Paul upon his garment, white like milk, did
afterwards call him to remembrance of himself,
and so he became penitent for his sins, and be
came a good man ; whose example I pray God
thou mayest follow ; and I pray God give thee
His grace." He suffered, Tyburn, May 30,
1582.
" Father forgive them, for they know not what
they do."— LUKE xxiii. 34.
1 60
May 28
THE SNARES OF THE PHARISEES
B. THOMAS FORD, Pr., 1582
HE was a native of Devonshire, became Fellow
and President of Trinity College, Oxford, ex
pressed there strongly his Catholic sympathies,
and led a spotless and zealous life. In 1570 he
abjured Protestantism and entered Douay. In
1576 he returned to England as a priest, and
after five years' successful labour was seized,
with B. Campion, at Dame Yates' house, Lyford,
in Berkshire. His examination shows how, by
adroit casuistry, the Government hoped to re
present the martyrs as political conspirators.
F. Ford, however, declined to be entrapped.
His answers may be summarised thus : i. He
could not reply as to the legality of the Bull of
Pius V against Elizabeth, as he was not privy to
its circumstances. 2. The Pope has authority
to depose princes on certain occasions. When
such a Bull is published against Her Majesty
he will then answer as to the duty of her sub
jects. 3. As to the Pope's authorisation of the
Northern Rising, being a private subject he
cannot answer. 4. Dr. Sanders and Bristowe
are learned men, and must answer themselves
as to the truth of their book ; he himself cannot
do so. The examination was, of course, a mere
pretext, and F. Ford saw through the device
and in no way committed himself. After much
cruel treatment his sentence of death was carried
out, Tyburn, May 28, 1582.
" And the Pharisees watched that they might
find an accusation against Him." — MATT. x. 16.
161
May 29
HOLY MASS AND MARTYRDOM
f B. RICHARD THIRKELL, Pr., 1583
BORN in Durham; after his ordination, in ad
vanced age, at Douay in 1579, he exclaimed,
" God alone knows how great a gift this is that
hath been conferred upon me this day ! " Holy
Mass was his constant thought, and it produced
in his soul such daily increase of Divine love
and heavenly courage that he desired nothing
more than, in return for what Christ had done
for him, to shed also his blood in Christ and
for Christ. For eight whole years his prayers
were that he might one day lay down his life
for his faith, and this was at length granted
him. He was apprehended and tried at York.
He appeared at the bar a venerable old man in
his priest's cassock, and acknowledged that he
was a priest and had performed priestly func
tions. He was found guilty, and spent the
night instructing the criminals and preparing
them for death. On entering the court the
next morning he publicly blessed four Catholic
prisoners there present, and a brave old woman
who knelt to receive it defended his action by
saying that as a minister of Christ he had the
power to bless in His Name. He received the
sentence of death with great joy, and so finished
his course, York, May 29, 1583.
" They overcame the dragon by the blood of
the Lamb and by the word of the testimony,
and they loved not their lives unto death."
— APOC. xii. ii.
162
May 30
LOVE OF THE CROSS
f B. WILLIAM FILBIE, Pr., 1582
BORN at Oxford, educated at Lincoln College,
he embraced the faith, entered Douay, and
returned to the English Mission in 1581. He
was arrested at Lyford, with FF. Ford and
Campion, and condemned with them at the
Tower in November 1581. The following May
he was drawn to Tyburn. On the scaffold a
Sheriffs man, finding a little wooden cross in
the martyr's handkerchief, held it up, saying,
" O ! what a villainous traitor is this that hath
a cross," and some of the people repeated the
cry. But Father Filbie smiled -and made no
reply. He was no more ashamed, says his
biographer, of this his Saviours banner than
of his crown, which he had taken care to shave.
Then the Sheriff said, " Filbie, the Queen is
merciful to you, and we have authority from
her to carry you back, if you will ask her
mercy." Filbie answered, " I never offended
her," " Well, then," said the Sheriff, " make
an end." And thus desiring all Catholics to
pray for him, he prayed, saying his Pater, and
Ave, and "In rnanus tuas," &c. ; and when the
cart was drawn away, he said, " Lord, receive
my soul," and so hanged, knocking his breast
several times, till some pulled down his hands ;
and so he finished his mortal life, Tyburn,
May 30, 1582.
"And then shall appear the sign of the Son
of Man in the heavens, and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn." — MATT. xxiv. 30.
163
May 31
WISDOM IN SPEECH
B. LUKE KIRBY, Pr., 1582
BORN in Yorkshire, he was ordained at Douay
1577, called to the English Mission in 1580, and
was shortly apprehended. He underwent in the
Tower, for more than an hour, the torture of the
Scavenger's Daughter — an iron hoop in which
the body was compressed, hands, feet, and head
being bound fast together, and the blood forced
often from the nostrils, and even from the hands •
and feet by the violence of the pressure. On
the scaffold he declared his loyalty to the Queen,
and prayed God to preserve her from her ene
mies. The minister bade him add "from the
Pope's curse and power." " If the Pope make
war against her, or curse her unjustly, God pre
serve her from him also," replied the martyr.
But when the Sheriff pressed him to obtain his
freedom and forsake the Man of Rome, he
replied that the Pope's authority was a point of
faith, and that to save his life by denying it .was
to damn his soul. He thus rightly distinguished
between the Pope's acts as a temporal ruler and
as the Infallible Head of the Church. He re
fused to pray in English with the minister and
the crowd, because to do so with those not of
the faith would dishonour God ; but he asked
for the prayers of all Catholics, and so won his
crown, Tyburn, May 30, 1582.
" O Lord, Thou wilt open my lips, and my
mouth shall show forth Thy praise." — Ps. 1. 17.
164
June I
REPARATION
t B. JOHN STOREY, L., 1571
BORN about the year 1504, he became Professor
of Civil Law, Head of Broadgates Hall, now
Pembroke College, at Oxford, a learned Canon
ist, and an eloquent and leading speaker in
Parliament; it was on the floor of the House
that he was to stand forth champion of the
ancient faith. Under Henry VIII he had, like
too many others, taken the oath of Supremacy,
but the Bill of Edward VI substituting a new
English Liturgy for the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass enabled him to repair his fall. " Woe to
thee, O land," he said, quoting Holy Scripture,
" whose king is a child." — EcCLES x. 16. And
for his bold protest he was committed to the
Tower. He, however, obtained his release, and
retired with his family to Louvain, where, with
the Carthusians, he spent his days in doing pen
ance for his fall and in prayer for the conversion
of his country. On Mary's accession he re
turned to England, and was appointed Chan
cellor of the Diocese of London, and the bitter
experience of his own lapse made him zealous
in the suppression of heresy. He held with
B. Thomas More that false doctrine was the
greatest evil, and undermined Church and State
alike, and though he pleaded for indulgence to
the misguided, he knew no toleration with the
fomenters of heresy and rebellion.
" But where sin abounded, grace did more
abound."— ROM. v. 20.
165
June 2
REPARATION
B. JOHN STOREY, L., 1571
IN order to root out once more the ancient
Faith, Elizabeth inaugurated her reign by the
Act of Conformity, and this persecuting measure
evolved the strongest protest from B. John
Storey, one of the very few Catholics now in
Parliament. Taunted in reply with his severity
to heretics, he only expressed his regret that he
had not done more. For refusing to go to the
Protestant Church he was sent to the Fleet, but
escaped to Belgium, was naturalised as a Spanish
subject, and was appointed Searcher of Vessels
by the Duke of Alva. He was now much
troubled lest by his flight he had forfeited the
Martyr's crown, but his fears proved groundless.
Entrapped on board an English vessel, he was
conveyed to the Tower, racked, tortured, pes
tered by fanatical preachers, and. grossly insulted
by the street rabble. He pleaded in vain that
as a Spanish subject he was not subject to the
jurisdiction of an English court, and he refused
to recognise an excommunicated and deposed
Queen. Though nigh seventy years old, he bore
unmoved his unjust trial, and endured with sin
gular courage an execution of exceptional bru
tality. It was his constancy which animated
the B. Campion to sacrifice himself for the
same cause.
" Thou hast broken my bonds : I will sacrifice
to Thee a sacrifice of praise." — Ps. cxv. 16.
1 66
June 3
THE DIGNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD
f Yen. FRANCIS INGLEBY, Pr., 1586
HE was the son of Sir John Ingleby, of Ripley,
Yorkshire, and studied Jaw in London. After
making good way in his profession he left the
world, went to Rheims, was ordained priest, and
returned to the English Mission in 1584. He
worked with great success in his own county,
and it was for harbouring Father Ingleby that
Margaret Clitheroe underwent her cruel martyr
dom. Once when in company with Mr. Lassie,
a Catholic gentleman, outside the bishop's palace
at York, the latter knelt down to receive his
blessing. The action was observed from the
windows by two ministers, chaplains of the
Protestant Bishop, who could not understand
paying such a mark of respect to one so poorly
dressed. They therefore made inquiries, and
had him apprehended as a priest. At the
Council, when reproached as a gentleman of
good birth for so far debasing himself as to
become a priest, he replied that he made more
account of his priesthood than of all other titles
whatsoever. During his trial they endeavoured
in vain to make him disclose what Catholics he
had frequented, and they interrupted his speech
on other matters with railings and blasphemies,
so that he was never allowed to finish a sentence.
He suffered, with great constancy, at York,
June 3, 1586.
" And the glory which Thou hast given Me
I have given to them ; I in them and Thou in
Me." — JOHN xvii. 22, 23.
167
June 4
THE WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS
Bishop POOLE, of Peterborough, 1568
FELLOW of All Souls, Dean of the Arches,
Archdeacon of Derby and Salop, he was conse
crated Bishop of Peterborough, August 15, 1537.
He was a chronic invalid at the time of Eliza
beth's accession, and begged Cecil to be excused
attending the first Parliament on account of
consumption and quartan ague, which, with the
inclemency of the season and his great age,
made it dangerous for him to travel. Old as
he was, he could still bear his witness. He was
commanded to consecrate Parker, a married
priest suspected of heresy, his co-consecrators
being two suspended, excommunicated ecclesi
astics calling themselves bishops, relapsed here
tics, and apostate religious. He refused to obey
Elizabeth's behest, and, further, when the oath
of Supremacy was tendered to him he preferred
deposition to taking it. He was now placed
under restraint, but at the breaking out of the
plague in 1 564 was allowed to go to the house
of a Catholic gentleman, Mr. Brian Fowler, in
Staffordshire. Here, however, Bentham, the
Protestant Bishop of Coventry, represented his
presence as injurious to the interests of religion,
and he appears to have died in the Fleet, May
1568.
" Let not the discourse of the ancients escape
'thee, for of them thou shalt learn understand
ing, and shalt give an answer in time of need." —
ECCLUS. viii. n, 12.
168
June 5
THE HOUSE OF MY GOD
f Father JOHN GRAY, O.S.F., 1579
EXPELLED by Henry VIII, he returned to
England under Mary, to be again driven abroad
by Elizabeth. He now sought shelter in the
house of his order at Brussels, where he was
already regarded as a Saint. The Protestants,
however, having seized the town, attacked the
Friary, and he was urged to fly. He was now
seventy years of age, and during the fifty years
that had passed since his exile had always longed
for martyrdom. " Let us stay in God's house,"
he said ; " where can we die so happily as in the
presence of the Blessed Sacrament, on the holy
spot where we hope to be buried?" He spoke
in vain ; the friars fled, and the mob entering the
convent found Father Gray and Brother James,
an English lay brother, alone on their knees
before the altar of the Blessed Sacrament. The
mob beat Brother James till he was left as dead,
then turning to Father Gray they vilely abused
and assaulted him. His prayers for mercy were
met only by fresh insults, and one of them draw
ing his sword dealt him a mortal wound on the
head, whereupon he said sweetly, " I forgive you
the wounds you inflict on me," and expired,
June 5, 1579-
" I have chosen to be an abject in the house
of my God rather than to dwell in the taber
nacles of sinners." — Ps. Ixxxiii. u.
169
June 6
A BOON OF THE PENAL LAWS
WILLIAM BLUNDELL, L., 1698
BY the penal laws that passed under James I
Catholics were forbidden to reside within ten
miles of London, or to go beyond five miles
from their own homes without special leave.
They were disabled from serving in court or
military offices, or from practising in surgery,
medicine, or law. They could not keep arms
or Catholic books. Their children could not be
christened or married save by a minister of the
Church of England, or be buried in other than a
Protestant cemetery, under a penalty of twenty
pounds. Every child sent abroad, unless he
returned and conformed, forfeited his rights of
property, which passed to the Protestant next-
of-kin. Such were some of the additional penal
ties by which the Government hoped to stamp
out the Catholic faith. Yet by the providence
of God these penal measures helped to fill the
ranks of the priesthood and the religious orders.
With every liberal profession closed against
them, the sons of the best families in England
entered the Church and formed an exemplary
body of priests, while the daughters, to whom
marriage was denied, took the veil. Mr. Blun-
dell could count eighty-seven relations in re
ligion, and of his three sons and seven daughters
two sons and three daughters became religious.
" I called Thee to curse my enemies, and
Thou on the contrary hast blessed them these
three times." — NUM. xxiv. 10.
170
June 7
A PRIEST TO THE RESCUE
B. RICHARD THIRKELL, Pr., 1583
TOGETHER with Mr. Thirkell were brought into
Court a gentleman of note and his lady, arraigned
for not going to church. On their being ques
tioned, Mr. Thirkell, who till then appeared
fixed in contemplation, turned to hear his reply.
The gentleman's voice, through weakness, was
scarcely audible. Upon which one cried out,
"He looks at the priest;" and another, "This
is the traitor who persuades him to all this;"
and a third, who was on the bench and a kins
man of the gentleman, said, " Cousin, now is
your time before the judges bring in their
verdict. Do not fling away your goods," adding,
" But for this traitor of a priest, my cousin would
be more tractable." Here Mr. Thirkell said,
" 'Tis better to cast away our goods than to risk
losing one's soul." Then to the gentleman,
" Let your goods go ; stick you close to God, and
with great courage confess His holy Name."
The judges commanded his silence, but he
replied that the constancy of these Catholics in
maintaining so good a cause rejoiced him ex
ceedingly, and it was his duty to encourage
them. The gentleman and his lady were firm
and were cast into prison, and Mr. Thirkell was
summoned to the bar and received his death
sentence for high treason.
" I was an eye to the blind and a foot to the
lame."— JOB xxix. 15.
171
June 8
OUR LADY OF IPSWICH AND THE
POSSESSED
B. THOMAS MORE, L., 1535
" AMONG miracles, I durst boldly tell you for
one. A very fair young daughter of Sir Roger
Wentworth, twelve years old, was grievously
possessed, her mind alienated, and raving with
blasphemy of God and hatred of all hallowed
things distinguishing them from the unhallowed.
Of her own mind, and monished by the will of
God, she went on pilgrimage to Our Lady of
Ipswich. On the way she prophesied many
things which proved true, and in a trance,
though unlearned, spoke on deep things with
marvellous wisdom. Laid before the image of
Our Lady, the contortions of her face, eyes,
and mouth were terrible to behold, when in the
sight of all she was suddenly and perfectly
cured. And in this matter no pretext of beg
ging, no possibility of counterfeit ; her parents
right honourable and sore abashed to see such
chances in their children ; the witnesses great
number, of repute and experience, the maid
herself too young to feign, and at the end so
virtuous and so moved with the miracle that
she forsook the world and entered religion with
the Minoresses, where she hath lived well and
graciously ever since."
" She shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie
in wait for her heel." — GEN. iii. 15.
172
June 9
THE END AND THE MEANS
Yen. WILLIAM HARCOURT, S.J., 1679
BORN in Lancashire, he entered the Society of
Jesus and laboured on the English Mission for
thirty-five years. He was arrested for the Gates
Plot, and sentenced at the age of seventy. On
the scaffold he said : " The words of dying per
sons have been esteemed as of the highest
authority, because they are so shortly to be
cited before the tribunal of God. This gives me
hopes that mine may be so regarded ; therefore
I do here declare, in the presence of Almighty
God, the whole Court of Heaven and their
numerous' assembly, that as I hope by the
merits and Passion of my Lord and sweet
Saviour Jesus Christ for eternal bliss, I am as
innocent as the child unborn of everything laid
to my charge for which I am here to die. And
I do utterly abhor and detest that abominable
and false doctrine laid to our charge, that we
can have licences to commit perjury or any sin
to advance our cause, as expressly contrary to
St. Paul's saying, 'evil may not be done that
good may come thereof.' Therefore we hold it
unlawful to kill any person, much more our
lawful King, whose person we are ready to
defend with our lives. I pray God bless his
Majesty and his royal Consort, the best of
Queens. All who are in the Communion of the
Roman Church pray for me."
" Not rather, as we are slandered, and as
some affirm that we say, Let us do evil that
good may come of it." — ROM. iii. 8
J73
June 10
"POSSUMUS" (We Can)
Ven. THOMAS WHITEBREAD, S.J., 1679
BORN of a gentleman's family in Essex, he was
educated at St. Omer's, entered the Society of
Jesus, and for thirty years laboured with great
fruit on the English Mission. Made Provincial,
he preached at his Visitation at Liege, on
St. James' Day, July 25, 1678 (that is, about two
months before the Gates persecution began),
on the Gospel of the Feast. " Potestis libere
calicem quern ego bibiturus sum?" ''Can you
drink the chalice which I am to drink ? They
say we can." He then shewed clearly his fore
sight of the coming storm, and great suffering
in store for his brethren and himself. After
saying that the times were now quiet, but that
God only knew how long they would be so, he
then pointedly repeated the text. " Can you
drink the chalice? Can you undergo a hard
persecution ? Are you contented to be falsely
betrayed and injured and hurried away to
prison ? Possumus (we can). Blessed be God.
Potestis bibere ? Can you suffer the hardships
of a jail, the straw bed, the hard diet, the chains
and fetters ? Can you endure the rack ? • Pos
sumus (we can). Blessed be God. Can you
patiently receive an unjust sentence of a shame
ful death ? We can." And this last clause he
uttered as a prayer with his eyes towards
Heaven.
" Can you drink the chalice which I am to
drink? They say to him, We can."— MATT.
xx. 22.
174
June II
AN UNJUST JUDGE
Ven. THOMAS WHITEBREAD, S.J., 1679
GATES and Bedloe again swore to Whitebread
having assisted at the meeting in London to kill
the King, save that Bedloe now gave us of his
own personal knowledge what he had before
spoken of as hearsay, and explained that he had
intentionally softened his witness on the previous
occasion. Judge Wylde told him that he was a
confirmed perjurer and ought never to enter the
courts again, but go home and repent. On the
other hand, Father Whitebread showed the im
probability of his conspiring with a man whom
he had never seen, and who had been expelled
from St. Omer's for his irregular life. He pro
duced fifteen students who swore that Gates was
at St. Omer's when he swore he was at the meet
ing in London. " If this plot existed," urged
Father Whitebread, " in which so many persons
of honour and quality were engaged, why are
there no traces of its evidence, no arms bought,
no men enlisted, no provision made for its exe
cution ? There was no evidence for the jury but
hard swearing." Lastly, speaking for himself
and his companions, he contrasted the known
innocence of their lives and the vicious im
morality of their accusers. Nevertheless, Chief-
Justice Scroggs directed the jury to find them
guilty, and himself sentenced them to death.
" O thou art grown old in evil days, now are
thy sins come out; the judging unjust judg
ments, oppressing the innocent and letting the
guilty go free." — DAN. xiii. 52, 53.
175
June 12
LOVE'S SERVILE LOT
Ven. ROBERT SOUTHWELL, S.J.
LOVE mistress is of many minds,
Yet few know whom they serve,;
They reckon least how little love
Their service doth deserve.
The will she robbeth from the wit,
The sense from reason's lore ;
She is delightful in the rind,
Corrupted in the core.
She shroudeth vice in virtue's veil,
Pretending good in ill ;
She offereth joy, affordeth grief,
A. kiss, where she doth kill.
She letteth fall some luring baits
For fools to gather up ;
To sweet, to sour, to every taste
She tempereth her cup.
Like tyrant, cruel wounds she gives ;
Like surgeon, salves she lends ;
But salve and sore have equal force,
For death is both their ends.
Plough not the seas, sow not the sands
Leave off your idle pain ;
Seek other mistress for your minds :
Love's service is in vain.
• 176
June 13
YEA, YEA, AND NO, NO
f B. THOMAS WOODHOUSE, S.J., 1573
HE was seized while at the Altar in the act of
saying Mass and thrown into Fleet Prison, but,
owing to the plague in London, was removed to
the house in Cambridgeshire of Tyrrel the Fleet
warder. B. Thomas, knowing him to be a
Catholic at heart, rebuked him for eating meat
in Lent, and said he would not stay in his house
if he did so. Tyrrel laughed, but B. Thomas
proved missing. He had gone quietly back to
the Fleet. He never would answer when heretics
said Grace at table, and for this he was once set
in the stocks. He not only recited his office
regularly, but said Mass daily in his room in the
prison. He wrote to Burghley urging him to
repent and submit to the Pope, and to persuade
the Lady Elizabeth to do so likewise. In his
interview with Burghley, Woodhouse would call
him only Mr. Cecil, and explained that he did
so because she who gave him titles was deposed.
He said though he might say Mass in Cecil's
house, Cecil must not attend unless he were re
conciled. Simple and fearless on the scaffold, he
called on the people and the Queen to repent
and ask pardon of God. He suffered, London,
June 13, 1573.
" And his communication is with the simple."
— PROV. iii. 32.
177 M
June 14
THE LEARNING OF THE SIMPLE
B. JOHN RIGBY, L., 1600
THOUGH of gentle birth, he was obliged through
poverty to take service, and at times went to
the Protestant Church. Repenting however
he was reconciled, and, leading an exemplary
life, was the means of converting many others,
amongst the rest his aged father. He was
arrested for refusing to go to church and for
being reconciled. In his defence he said that
his reconciliation was lawful, for the Book of
Common Prayer says, in the Visitation of the
Sick, that a man burthened in his conscience
should make his confession to a minister, and
by this humble confession crave pardon from
sin and reconciliation from the hands of the
minister. Again, " I was never reconciled from
any obedience to my Princess, for I obey her
still, nor to any religion, for though I sometimes
went to church, from fear of temporal punish
ment and against my will, I was never other
than a Catholic and needed not reconciliation.
However, if it be treason to be reconciled to
God by him who has the authority, God's Will
be done. And if going to church would alone
pardon me, I would not have your Lordship
think that, having thus risen (as I hope) many
steps towards Heaven, I now will let my foot
slip, and fall into the bottomless pit of Hell."
" Meditate not how you shall answer, for I
will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all
your adversaries shall not be able to resist and
gainsay." — LUKE xxi. 14, 15.
178 '
June 15
A BRIBE REJECTED
FIVE JESUIT MARTYRS, 1679
FATHER FENWICK on the scaffold, addressing
the crowd, declared his innocence, and ex
pressed the hope that Christian charity would
not let his hearers think that by this last act of
his life he would cast away his soul by sealing
up his last breath with a damnable lie. Then
he joined his companions in their private devo
tions. At their close the five stood up— Thomas
Whitebread, William Harcourt, John Gavan,
John Fenwick, Antony Turner — with the ropes
round their necks, when there came a horseman
in full speed from Whitehall, crying, " A pardon !
a pardon ! " With difficulty he made his way
through the crowd to the Sheriff, who was under
the gallows to see the execution carried out. By
the terms of the pardon the King granted them
their lives, which by their own treason they had
forfeited, from his own inclination to clemency,
on condition of their acknowledging the con
spiracy and laying open what they knew thereof.
They all thanked His Majesty for his inclination
of mercy towards them, but they knew of no
conspiracy, much less were guilty of any, and
could not therefore accept any pardon on these
conditions. And so all five together won their
crown, Tyburn, June 20, 1679.
"Then Jesus said, Begone, Satan, for it is
written, the Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and
Him only shalt thou serve." — MATT. iv. 10.
179
June i 6
A PURITAN CONSCIENCE
Ven. JOHN SOUTHWORTH, Pr., 1654
" I CONFESS I am a great sinner : against God
I have offended, but I am innocent of any sin
against man. I mean the Commonwealth and
present Government. How justly then I die,
let them look to who have condemned me. It
is sufficient for me that it is God's Will ! I
plead not for myself (I came hither to suffer),
but for you poor persecuted Catholics whom I
leave behind me. Heretofore liberty of con
science was pretended as a cause of war, and it
was held reasonable that all the nation should
enjoy it who behaved as obedient and true
subjects. This being so, why should their
conscientious acting and governing themselves
according to the faith of their ancestors involve
them more than all the rest in universal guilt ?
which conscientiousness is the very reason that
clears others and renders them innocent. It
has pleased God to take the sword out of the
King's hand and put it in the Protector's. Let
him remember that he is to administer in
differently and without exception of persons.
For there is no exception of persons with God,
whom we ought to resemble. If Catholics
rebel, let them suffer, but not the guiltless,
unless conscience be their guilt."
" I will judge thee according to thy ways, and
I will set all thy abominations against thee."
— EZECH. vii. 3.
1 80
June 17
THE COMMISSION TO PREACH
Yen. JOHN SOUTHWORTH, Pr., 1654
" GOOD people, I was born in Lancashire. This
is the third time I have been apprehended, and
now being to die I would gladly witness and
profess openly my faith, for which I suffer.
And though my time be short, yet what I shall
be deficient in words I hope I shall supply
with my blood, the last drop of which I would
willingly spend for my faith. Neither my
intent in coming to England, nor practice in
England, was to act anything against the
secular government. Hither was I sent by my
lawful superiors to teach Christ's faith, not to
meddle with any temporal affairs. Christ sent
His Apostles, His Apostles their successors,
and their successors me. I did what I was
commanded by them who had power to com
mand me, being ever taught that I ought to
obey them in matters ecclesiastical, and my
temporal governors in business only temporal.
I never acted nor thought any hurt against the
present Protector. I had only a care to do my
own obligation, and discharge my own duty in
saving my own and other men's souls. This,
and only this, according to my poor abilities, I
laboured to perform. I had commission to do
it from him, to whom our Saviour, in his pre
decessor St. Peter, gave power to send others
to propagate His faith."
"As the Father hath sent Me, 1 also send
you." — JOHN xx. 21.
181
June i 8
LOOKING ON JESUS
Ven. JOHN SOUTHWORTH, Pr.} 1654
"THIS is that for which I die, O holy cause,
and not for any treason against the laws. My
faith and obedience to my superiors is all the
treason charged against me : may I die for
Christ's law, which no human law, by whom
soever made, ought to withstand or contradict.
The law of Christ commanded me to obey
these superiors and this Church, saying who
ever hears them hears Christ Himself. This
Church, these superiors of it, I obeyed, and for
obeying die. I was brought up in the truly
ancient Roman Catholic Apostolic religion, and
learnt that the sum of the only true Christian
profession is to die. This lesson I have hereto
fore in my life desired to learn : this lesson I
come here to put in practice by dying, being
taught it by our Blessed Saviour, both by pre
cept and example. Himself said, 'He that
will be My disciple, let him take up his cross
and follow Me.' Himself exemplary practised
what He recommended to others. To follow
His holy doctrine and imitate His holy death,
I willingly suffer at present ; this gallows,
'looking up,' I look on as His Cross, which
I gladly take up to follow my dear Saviour.
My faith is my crime ; the performance of my
duty the cause of my condemnation."
" Looking on Jesus the author and finisher
of our faith, who having joy set before Him,
endured the cross." — HEB. xii. 2.
182
June 19
THE WHIMS OF A KING
f B. SEBASTIAN NEWDIGATE, Carthusian, 1535
WARNED by his sister, Jane Dormer, Duchess
of Feria, of the dangers of his life as a courtier,
"What would you say," he replied, "if you next
heard of me as. a monk?" "I should be less
surprised," she said, " to see thee hung." She
saw both. To Charterhouse he went, and from
a gay courtier became a model religious. Im
prisoned for refusing the oath of Supremacy, he
was visited, both in the Marshalsea and the
Tower, by Henry VIII, who endeavoured by
promises and threats to shake the martyr's
resolve. Sebastian replied: "In court I served
your Majesty loyally and faithfully, and so con
tinue still your humble servant, although kept
in this prison and bonds. But in matters that
belong to the doctrine of the Catholic Church
and the salvation of my poor soul, your Majesty
must excuse me." The King replied: "Art
thou wiser and holier than all the ecclesiastics
and seculars of my kingdom ? " He answered :
" I may not judge of others, nor do I esteem
myself wise or holy, being far short in either,
only this, I assure myself that the faith and
doctrine I profess is no new thing, but always
among the faithful held for Christian and
Catholic. We must obey God rather than
man." He suffered at Tyburn, June 19, 1535,
with BB. Middlemore and Exmew.
" Put not your trust in princes : in the chil
dren of men, in whom there is no salvation." —
Ps. cxlv. 2.
June 20
LEAVE TO LIE
f B. THOMAS WHITEBREAD, S.J., 1679, on
the Scaffold
" I SUPPOSE it is expected that I should speak
something to the matter I am condemned for
and brought hither to suffer ; it is no less than
plotting His Majesty's death and altering the
government of the Church and State. You all
know, or ought to know, I am to make my
appearance before the face of Almighty God, and
with all imaginable certainty and evidence to re
ceive a final judgment on all the thoughts, words,
and actions of my whole life. As then I hope for
mercy from His Divine Majesty, I declare to
you here present and to the whole world that I
am innocent of the charge against me as when
I was born. Further, I renounce from my heart
all manner of pardons, absolutions, dispensa
tions for swearing, which some impute to us as
part of our doctrine and practice, but is a thing
so unlawful that no power on earth could
authorise me or anybody so to do. I forgive
my accusers and pray for their repentance,
otherwise they will find they have done to
themselves more wrong than to me, though
that has been much. May God ever bless His
Majesty. I commit my soul into my Redeemer's
hands."
" Wherefore putting away lying, speak ye the
truth every man with his neighbour ; for we are
members one of another." — EPH. iv. 25.
184
June 21
FETTERS UNLOOSED
fVen. JOHN RIGBY, L., 1600
AT the next assizes he again refused to
go to church, and the judge ordered his feet
to be put in irons. A strong pair of shackles,
which the confessor kissed and blessed with
the sign of the cross, were then riveted on
his legs. The next day as he stood at the
Sessions house the irons fell off his legs on to
the ground, at which he smiled and begged the
keeper to rivet them on faster. The keeper did
so with all care, but again they fell. Then he
called again to the keeper to make them secure :
"For I esteem them," he said, "jewels too
precious to be lost." But the keeper's man,
being much amazed, refused to put them on
again, so another was ordered to do so. Then
Mr. Rigby, remembering that a Catholic maid
called Mercy had that morning told him that in
the night she saw in her dream his irons fall off
his legs, said to his keeper, " Now the maid's
dream is found to be true." He added he hoped
it was a token that the bands of his mortality
would shortly be loosed, and so it proved. He
won his crown, June 21, 1600, St. Thomas'
Waterings, London.
" Thou hast broken my bonds : I will sacrifice
to Thee a sacrifice of praise." — Ps. cxv. 16.
185
June 22
ASCENDING THE STEPS
f B. JOHN FISHER, Card. B., 1535
WHEN he was come to the foot of the scaffold,
they that carried him offered to help him up the
stairs, but said he : " Nay, masters, seeing I am
come so far let me alone, and ye shall see me
shift for myself well enough," and he mounted
without any help, so lively that they that knew
his weakness marvelled. As he was ascending,
the south-east sun shined very bright in his face,
whereupon he said to himself these words, lift
ing up his hands : " Come ye to Him and be
enlightened, and your faces shall not be con
founded." On the executioner kneeling for his
forgiveness, as the custom was, he replied,
" With all my heart, and I trust thou shalt see
me overcome this storm lustily." Then was
his gown and tippet taken from him, and he
stood in his doublet and hose, in the sight of
all the people, and showed a long, lean, and
slender body, nothing but skin and bone, a
mere death's-head ; and therefore monstrous
was it thought that the King should put such
a man to death. Though so weak, in a loud
clear voice he asked prayers of Christian people
that he might die steadfast in the Catholic faith,
and himself prayed for the King, then after some
secret prayers his head was severed, June 22.
" In his heart he hath disposed to ascend by
steps in the vale of tears." — Ps. Ixxxiii. 6.
186
June 23
LEARNING FOR LIFE
B. JOHN FISHER, Card. B., 1535
TAKING a little New Testament in his hand, he
made a cross on his forehead and went out of
his prison with the lieutenant, being so weak
that he was scant able to go down the stairs ;
wherefore he was carried on a chair to the
Tower Gate, with a great number of weapons
about him, to be delivered to the Sheriffs for
execution. While waiting for the Sheriffs he
rose out of his chair, and, standing on his feet,
leaned his shoulder to the wall, and, lifting his
eyes up towards heaven, he opened his little
book in his hand and said : " O Lord, this is
the last time that ever I shall open this book.
Let some comfortable place now chance unto
me whereby I, Thy poor servant, may glorify
Thee in this my last hour" ; and with that,
looking into the book, the first thing that came
to his sight were these words : " This is ever
lasting life, that they may know Thee, the only
true. God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast
sent. I have glorified Thee upon earth, I have
finished the work that Thou gavest me to do."
And with that he shut the book together, and
said, " Here is even learning enough for me to
my life's end."
"Thy knowledge is become wonderful to
me." — PS. cxxxviii. 6.
187
June 24
THE WEDDING GARMENT
B. JOHN FISHER, Card. B., 1535
AFTER he was waked he called his man to help
him up. But first of all he commanded him to
take away the shirt of hair (which accustomably
he wore on his back), and to convey it privily
out of the house, and instead thereof to lay him
forth a clean white shirt and all the best apparel
he had, as cleanly brushed as might be. And
as he was arraying himself his man demanded
why he was specially careful of his apparel that
day, when he must put off all again in two hours
and lose it. "What of that?" said he ; "dost
thou not mark that this is our wedding-day,
and that it behoveth us, therefore, to use more
cleanliness for solemnity of the marriage ? "
About nine of the clock the lieutenant came.
Thus said he to his man, " Reach me my furred
tippet to put about my neck." " Oh, my lord,"
quoth the lieutenant, " why be so careful for
your health with not above one hour to live."
" I think no otherwise," said this blessed Father ;
"but yet, in the meantime, I will keep myself as
well as I can till the very time of my execution,
by such means as God provides."
" But thou hast a few names in Sardis which
have not denied their garments ; and they
•shall walk with me in white, because they are
worthy." — APOC. iii. 4.
188
June 25
A MARTYR'S SLEEP
B. JOHN FISHER, Card. B., 1535
THE Lieutenant of the Tower came at 5 A.M.,
and woke the Bishop from his sleep to signify to
him that the King's pleasure was that he should
suffer death that forenoon. " Well," quoth this
blessed Father, "if this be your errand, you
bring me no great news, for I have long time
looked for this message. And I most humbly
thank the King's Majesty that it pleaseth him
to rid me from all this worldly business, and I
thank you also for your tidings. But, I pray
you, Mr. Lieutenant, when is mine hour that I
must go hence?" "Your hour," said the lieu
tenant, " must be nine of the clock." " And what
hour is it now?" said he. "It is now about,
five," said the lieutenant. " Well, then," said he,
" let me, by your patience, sleep an hour or two,
for I have slept very little this night, not for any
fear of death, I thank God, but by reason of my
great weakness." " The King's further pleasure
is," said the lieutenant, " that you say nothing to
belittle him before the people." " Good," replied
the Bishop, and so falling again to rest he slept
soundly two hours and more.
"Thou shalt rest, and thy sleep shall be
sweet."— PROV. iii. 24.
189
June 26
THE BONES OF ELIAS
B. JOHN FISHER, Card. B., 1535
THE day after his burial, the head being some
what parboiled in hot water was pricked upon
a pole and set on high upon London Bridge,
among the rest of the holy Carthusians' heads
that suffered death before him. This head,
after it had stood up the space of fourteen days
upon the Bridge, could not be perceived to
waste or consume, neither for the weather,
which was then very hot, neither for the par
boiling in hot water, but grew daily fresher and
fresher, so that in his lifetime he never looked
so well. For his cheek being beautified by a
comely red, the face looked as if it had be
holden the people passing by, and would have
spoke to them, which many took for a miracle.
. . . Whereupon the people coming daily to see
this strange sight, the passage over the Bridge
was so stopped with their going and coming
that almost neither cart nor horse could pass ;
and therefore at the end of fourteen days the
executioner was commanded to throw down
the head in the night-time into the river Thames,
and in the place thereof was set the head of the
most blessed and constant martyr, Sir Thomas
More, who suffered his passion on the 6th day
of July next following.
"No word could overcome him, and after
death his body prophesied."— ECCLUS. xlviii. 14.
190
June 27
FEEDING THE HUNGRY
MARGARET CLEMENT, 1537
ON May 29, 1537, the ten remaining Car
thusians who remained firm were sent to New
gate and chained, standing with their hands
tied behind them to posts of the prison, and so
left to perish. Their life was prolonged for a
short time by a holy woman, Margaret Clement.
As Margaret Giggs, she had been brought up
by B. Thomas More with his daughter Mar
garet, and had married John Clement, a doctor,
who formerly acted as tutor in the family. By
bribes and entreaties, she prevailed on the
gaoler to let her visit the prison, and, disguised
as a milkmaid with a pail upon her head full of
meat, she put food into the prisoners' mouths,
they being tied and not able to stir and help
themselves, and afterwards cleaned out their
filthy prison. The King, on learning that they
were not yet dead, ordered a stricter watch
to be kept, but Margaret contrived to let them
down food from the roof by uncovering the
tiles. They could feed themselves but little,
and Margaret's visits being forbidden, the
martyrs languished and pined away one after
another, what with the stink, want of food, and
other miseries which they there endured. On
her death-bed Margaret was rewarded by a
vision of the martyrs calling her to join them.
" I was hungry and you gave me to eat." —
MATT. xxv. 35.
191
June 28
A DANGEROUS SEDUCER
f Ven. JOHN SOUTHWORTH, Pr., 1654
BORN of an ancient Lancashire family, he re
turned from Douay to his own county in 1619,
and after eight years of successful missionary
labours was arrested and condemned at Lan
caster. He was, however, reprieved, sent to
London, and his sentence commuted to banish
ment by petition of the Queen. He contrived,
however, to work on in London, and with
such success that the sub-curate of St. Mar
garet's, Westminster, petitioned the Archbishop
of Canterbury against him as a " dangerous
seducer, visiting the plague-stricken, the sick,
and the dying, by distributing alms, feeing the
watchmen, making many perverts." " Divers
of these," he says, "frequent the Mass at
Denmark House, and three of them watched
all night with William Stiles till he died, and
then went to Mass. A most wicked proceeding if
it should not be remedied." On this he was
apprehended, but the judges were loath to
sentence him, being an old man of seventy-two
years, and urged him to plead not guilty. He
refused, for to him the denial of his priesthood
would be the denial of his faith. The recorder
who pronounced his sentence was so flooded
with tears that he could scarcely speak. Father
South worth was taken to Tyburn, June 28, 1654,
with five coiners, and gave his soul to God, for
whom he died.
" He stirreth up the people, teaching through
all Judea."— LUKE xxiii. 5.
192
June 29
ST. PETER'S REMORSE
Ven. ROBERT SOUTHWELL, S.J.
IT is a small relief
To say I was thy child,
If, as an ill-deserving foe,
From grace I am exiled.
I was, I had, I could —
All words importing want ;
They are but dust of dead supplies,
Where needful helps are scant.
Once to have been in bliss
That hardly can return,
Doth but bewray from whence I fell,
And wherefore now I mourn.
All thoughts of passed hopes
Increase my present cross ;
Like ruins of decayed joys,
They still upbraid my loss.
0 mild and mighty Lord !
Amend that is amiss ;
My sin, my sore, Thy love my salve,
Thy cure my comfort is.
Confirm Thy former deed,
Reform that is defiled ;
1 was, I am, I will remain
Thy charge, Thy choice, Thy child.
193 N
June 30
A GOOD DAY
f Yen. PHILIP POWEL, O.S.B., 1646
To the judge's question on which day he would
die, he answered pleasantly, " It is not an easy
question or soon compassed to be provided to
die well. We have all much to answer for, and
myself not the least share; therefore, my Lord,
consider what time your Lordship would allot to
yourself, and appoint that to me." The proffer
being twice repeated, he answered he could by
no means be an allotter of his own death, so the
judge promised he should have sufficient notice.
In the prison his courtesy and cheerfulness so
won the hearts of his fellow-prisoners that
twenty-nine gentlemen, all Protestants, save six
whom he converted, drew up a certificate of his
innocent and virtuous behaviour. His cheerful
ness increased day by day as he drew nearer
Heaven. When the officer brought the date fixed
for his death he joyfully said, " Welcome what
ever comes, God's Name be praised." On the
scaffold he said, "You are come to see a sad
spectacle, but to me it is not. It is the happiest
day and greatest joy that ever befell me, for I
am condemned to die as a Catholic priest and
a Benedictine monk, a dignity and honour for
which I give God thanks." He suffered June
30, 1646.
"Who is the man that desireth life: who
loveth to see good days?" — Ps. xxxiii. 13.
194
July i
THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT
f Archbishop OLIVER PLUNKET, 1681
OF a noble Irish family, he went to Rome, lived
for many years with the priests of San Girolamo
della Caritk, and was appointed by Clement IX
to the see of Armagh. There he found himself
obliged to pass censures on certain scandalous
livers in his flock, among them priests and re
ligious. In revenge they took advantage of the
Oates Plot to denounce the Archbishop as con
spiring to raise 70,000 Irish, with the help of
French troops, to destroy the Protestant religion.
In his defence he said he lived in a little thatched
house with one servant on £60 a year and never
had thought of such a design. Still with the
direct evidence against him he was condemned.
In Newgate his life was one of continual prayer ;
he fasted usually three or four days a week on
bread only. His favourite devotion was sen
tences from Holy Scripture, the Divine Officeand
the Missal, and he dwelt on these under the Holy
Spirit's guidance. Outwardly there appeared
no sign of anguish or fear, but a sweet and holy
recollection, a gentle courtesy, an unfailing
cheerfulness, devoting his fitness for the sacrifice
and ripeness for Heaven. His very presence
kindled in men's hearts a desire to suffer for
Christ.
"The fruits of the Spirit are charity, joy,
peace." — GAL. v. 22.
195
July 2
PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING
f Ven. MONFORD SCOTT, Pr., 1591
BORN in Norfolk, he arrived on the English
Mission from Douay 1577. "He was a man,"
we are told, "of wonderful meekness and of
so great abstinence that his diet on common
days was bread and water, and but little more
on Sundays and holidays. So addicted also
was he to prayer that he often spent whole days
and nights in this exercise, insomuch that his
knees were grown hard by the assiduity of his
devotions, as it is related of St. James. One of
the bystanders perceiving this when the martyr's
body was being quartered said aloud, ' I should
be glad to see any one of our ministers with
their knees as much hardened by constant
prayer as we see this man's knees are.' And
so great and so general was the veneration
this holy priest had acquired that Topcliffe, the
noted persecutor, loudly boasted that the Queen
and kingdom were highly obliged to him for
having brought to the gallows a priest so devout
and mortified." Father Scott was prosecuted
and condemned solely on account of his priestly
character. He suffered with wonderful con
stancy, and no less modesty and spiritual joy,
to the great edification of the spectators, and the
admiration even of the greatest enemies of his
faith and profession, Tyburn, July 2, 1591.
" By all prayer and supplication praying at all
times in the Spirit." — EPH. vi. 18.
196
July 3
TYBURN IN GALA
Ven. THOMAS MAXFIELD, Pr., 1616
OF an ancient Staffordshire family, he arrived in
England from Douay in 1615, and was arrested
in London when making" his thanksgiving after
Mass. On attempting his escape from the Gate
house, Westminster, he was recaptured, thrust
into a subterranean dungeon, and put in stocks,
so that he could neither stand nor lie down,
while helplessly attacked by swarms of venomous
insects. On the fourth day he was dragged out
more dead than alive and forced to walk to
Newgate, where he was confined with the
common felons, two of whom he converted.
On the eve of his martyrdom his saintly bearing
and fortitude filled with joy and veneration his
Catholic visitors, and the Blessed Sacrament
was exposed day and night in the Spanish
Ambassador's chapel on his behalf. On July i,
the day of his execution, to draw away the
crowd, a woman was burnt at Smithfield, but
to no purpose. A multitude on horse and foot
accompanied the martyr through the crowded
streets, the Catholics, Spaniards and English,
openly showing their reverence, with bare heads
begging his blessing. Tyburn gallows was
found to be beautifully decorated with garlands
and wreaths, and the ground covered with sweet-
smelling herbs and greens, and amidst these
emblems of his triumph the martyr won his
crown, July I, 1616.
" As a tree planted by the running water bring
ing forth its fruit in due season." — Ps. i. 3.
197
July 4
A MAN OF GOD
f Ven. JOHN CORNELIUS, S.J., 1594
HE said Mass every day at five o'clock in the
morning, and never without tears. At the read
ing of the Passion in Holy Week again he wept
exceedingly. He was sometimes in an ecstasy
when praying, and was found once on his knees,
his hands crossed on his breast, and his eyes
raised to Heaven, so absorbed in God that it
was doubtful whether he was alive or dead.
He always wore a rough hair-shirt, used frequent
disciplines, and for many years fasted four days
a week. He gave to the poor all that came to
his hands, committing the care of himself to
God's providence. He preached twice a week,
gave catechetical instructions for almost an
hour, and read some pious lessons for about
half-an-hour in the evening to those aspiring to
perfection. The mortification of his senses and
his recollection in God were so great that for
three whole years that he lodged in a room,
the windows of which looked upon the Parish
Church, he had never observed it, nor did he
know whether the house in which he lived was
leaded or tiled. Upon several occasions his
face was illuminated with a heavenly light. He
suffered at Dorchester, July 4, 1594.
" But thou, O man of God . . . pursue
justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, mild
ness."—! TIM. vi. 11.
198
July 5
THE LAST FIRST
f Ven. GEORGE NICOLS, Pr., 1589
BORN at Oxford, he was ordained at Rheims,
and sent on the Mission, 1583. Oxford was the
chief scene of his labours, and they bore fruit
in abundance. Amongst the souls he won to
God was that of a noted highwayman under
sentence of death in Oxford Castle. Through
the conversation of his Catholic fellow-prisoners
he became thoroughly contrite, and longed to
be able to make his confession. On the very
morning of his execution Father Nicols came
to the jail with a crowd of other persons, and,
passing for a kinsman and acquaintance of the
prisoner, after mutual salutations took him
aside, heard his confession, for which he had
carefully prepared the night before, and gave
him Absolution. The prisoner, now wonder
fully comforted, declared himself a Catholic,
was deaf to all the persuasions of the minister
to return to Protestantism, and suffered joy
fully professing the faith. Father Nicols and
Father Yaxley, his companion, were sent up to
London with legs tied under the horses' bellies,
being insulted all along the route. An Oxford
undergraduate, who from compassion attended
them on their journey, was confined for some
time in Bedlam as insane. The priests were
sent back to Oxford, and executed July i, 1589.
" So the last shall be first and the first last,
for many are called but few chosen." — MATT.
xx. 1 6.
199
July 6
THE PRIVILEGES OF MARTYRDOM
t B. THOMAS MORE, L., 1535
BEING now brought to the scaffold, it seemed
to him so weak that he said merrily to Mr.
Lieutenant, " I pray you, sir, see me safe up,
and for my coming down let me shift for my
self." Forbidden to speak to the crowd around,
he desired all the people to pray for him, and
to bear witness with him that he there died
in and for the faith of the Holy Catholic Church,
a faithful servant both of God and the King.
After saying the Miserere on his knees, he
kissed the executioner and asked his forgive
ness, saying, "Thou wilt do me this day a
greater benefit than ever any mortal man can
be able to give me. Pluck up thy spirit, man,
and be not afraid to do thy office. My neck is
very short ; take heed therefore that thou strike
not awry for saving thy honesty." Then cover
ing his eyes and laying his head upon the
block, he removed aside his beard, saying that
that had never committed any treason. So
with great alacrity and spiritual joy he received
the fatal blow. And then he found those words
true which he had often spoken, that a man
may lose his head and have no harm ; yea, I
say, unspeakable good and everlasting happi
ness.
"He that shall lose his life for Me shall find
it." — MATT. x. 39.
200
July 7
THE SPOUSE OF THE CANTICLES
t Yen. ROGER DICCONSON AND COM
PANIONS, 1591
FATHER DICCONSON was born in Lincoln, and
though apparently as a youth he attended the
Protestant Church, he must have been early
reconciled, for he returned from Rheims as a
priest to England in 1583. After being im
prisoned and exiled, he was finally arrested at
Winchester, and executed July J, 1591. The
devotion with which he inspired his flock was
seen in the case of Ralph Milner, his fellow-
martyr, and in that of the seven maiden gentle
women who were condemned with him. The
judge, thinking they would be sufficiently terri
fied by the sentence of death, gave them a
reprieve and ordered them back to prison. At
this they all burst into tears, and begged that
the sentence of death pronounced against them
might be carried out, and that they might die
with their ghostly father. They were accom
plices in his supposed guilt, and should there
fore share his punishment, adding that they
trusted to God, who, having enabled them to
profess their faith, would strengthen them to
die for the same cause. The judge, indignant
at this demonstration, told Father Dicconson
that their blood should be exacted at his hands.
" Yes, my lord, so Pilate turned his fault on the
Jews. May our blood not be exacted from you."
The maidens remained martyrs in will.
" Thy Name is as oil poured out, therefore
young maidens have loved Thee." — CANT. i. 2.
201
July 8
THE SHIELD OF TRUTH
t B. ADRIAN FORTESCUE, L., 1539
RICHARD LE FORT, for having saved the Con
queror's life at the Battle of Hastings by the
shelter of his strong shield, " Fort Escu," is
regarded as the founder of the Fortescue house,
whose motto is " Forte scutum salus Ducum" —
" A strong shield the safety of leaders." Adrian,
born about 1476, in 1499 married Anne Stonor,
heiress of Stonor Park. He served in the
French campaign of 1513 with Henry VIII,
then a youth, when the French were routed at
the Battle of the Spurs, and became attached
to Henry's Court. He served again in France
in 1523, and in 1533 assisted at the Coronation
of Anne Boleyn, his first cousin, for the Pope
had not yet declared Catherine's marriage valid.
But the oath of Supremacy in 1535 opened his
eyes to Henry's pretensions. Though a soldier
and a courtier, he had always been true to his
faith. In 1533 he had been admitted a Knight
of St. John of Jerusalem, and in 1534 became
a Dominican Tertiary. He unhesitatingly re
fused the oath, was arrested, attaindered, and
beheaded on Tower Hill, July 8, 1539, and the
Knights of his Order have always revered him
as a martyr, and his picture is in the Church of
St. John, Valetta, with the martyr's palm.
" His truth shall compass thee as a shield :
thou shalt not fear the terror of the night."—
Ps. xc. 5.
202
July 9
INTRODUCER TO CHRIST
Ven. RALPH MILNER, L., 1591
THOUGH born before the changes in religion,
he was not constant to his faith from the first,
but submitted, like the rest of his neighbours,
to the different alterations in belief that were
imposed by law. The contrast, however, be
tween the self-indulgence of Protestants, especi
ally that of the recently-intruded ministers and
the more devoted lives of Catholics, affected
him deeply. He therefore applied to a priest
for instruction, and on the very day of his
reconciliation was arrested and thrown into
prison. Winning his gaoler's confidence, he
was often allowed to leave prison on parole,
and all the time thus given, though he was a
very illiterate man, he spent in looking up
lapsed Catholics and persuading them to be
reconciled, and when they were sufficiently
prepared he would conduct the priests to them
to complete his good work. His thirst for souls
never slackened, and when the priest of those
parts was worn out and had to be replaced,
Ralph undertook to supply his successor with
ill necessaries, though he was himself very
Door. Being asked if he would have Father
Roger Dicconson for his priest, " With all my
-icart," answered Ralph ; " I would be glad to
ive and die with that good man above all
Dthers." And this afterwards took place.
" Andrew findeth his brother Simon . . . and
le brought him to Jesus." — JOHN i. 41, 42.
203
July 10
THE WINDING-SHEET
B. THOMAS MORE, L., 1535
"THAT which happened about Sir Thomas'
winding-sheet was reported as a miracle by
my Aunt Roper, Mrs. Clement, and Dorothy
Colley, Mr. Harris, his wife. Thus it was :
his daughter Margaret having distributed all
her money to the poor, for her father's soul,
when she came to bury his body at the Tower
she had forgotten to bring a sheet ; and there
was not a penny of money left amongst them
all : wherefore Mrs. Harris, her maid, went to
the next draper's shop, and agreeing upon the
price, made as though she would look for some
money in her purse, and then try whether they
would trust her or no ; and she found in her
purse the same sum for which they had agreed
upon, not one penny over or under, though she
knew before certainly that she had not one coin
about her. This the same Dorothy affirmed
constantly to Dr. Stapleton when they both
lived at Douay in Flanders in Queen Eliza
beth's reign. His shirt, wherein he suffered, all
embrued with his blood, was kept very care
fully by Dr. Clement's wife, also living beyond
the seas, as also his shirt of hair."
" And Joseph, buying fine linen, and taking
Him, wrapped Him in the fine linen, and laid
Him in a sepulchre." — MARK xv. 46.
204
July ii
FOR MY SAKE AND THE GOSPEL
Ven. RALPH MILNER, L., 1591
HE was hanged at the Bar, Southampton, for
being in the company of Mr. Dicconson, whom
he had served with zeal and piety, as has already
been related (July 7), such being by the present
statute felony. He refused to go to Church,
because, he said, being born in the reign of
Henry VIII, he would live and die in that faith
in which he was christened. At the gallows
again, his pardon being offered him if he would
go to Church, he answered, "No, no, I will
hang," and so reached his hand to the ladder
and went up. A Justice of the Peace told him
that he should have care of his wife and chil
dren, but he answered that he hoped to do them
as much good where he went as if he were with
them. Having the halter about his neck, his
son asked his blessing, which he gave him in
this following manner : " I pray God send thee
no worse end than thy father," and so he was
cast off the ladder. Before, a Justice said to
this man, " Thou art worse than any Seminary
priest ; " and he answered, " You say truly, for I
shall never be so good as they." He suffered
July 7, 1591.
" He that loveth father or mother more than
Me is not worthy of Me." — MATT. x. 37.
205
July 12
APOSTOLIC CHARITY
+ Ven. JOHN BUCKLEY, O.S.F., 1598
THE prison of the Marshalsea was the first field
of his priestly labours. In confinement there
were many so-called Protestants, who, if not
apostates, were at least the children of Catholics,
and in their affections more easily reconciled.
There were also Catholics of all ranks and
classes, separated from their families, some per
haps racked and tortured, all suffering scarcely
less from the filth and foul air of the dungeons.
The rich were drained by exorbitant charges,
the poor subjected to unauthorised barbarities
by mercenary gaolers. Among these Father
Buckley found ample work, consoling the de
jected, upholding the weak, raising the fallen.
From the Marshalsea he was transferred to
Wisbeach, and after three years' confinement
there, whether banished or by making his escape,
he went to Rome. There he was enrolled as a
Franciscan ; but in 1593, after three years' apos
tolic work in England, he was again put in
prison, where, as before, he did incalculable
good, and was made Provincial of his Order.
In 1598 he was arraigned and condemned for
having, as a priest, returned to England against
the Statute. He suffered at St. Thomas'
Waterings, Southwark, July 12, 1598.
" For I long to see you ... to strengthen
you ; that is to say, that I may be comforted to
gether in you, by that which is common to us
both, your faith and mine." — ROM. i. n, 12.
206
July 13
PILATE'S WIFE
f Ven. THOMAS TUNSTAL, Pr., 1616
OF an old Lancashire family he returned from
Douay to the English Mission in 1610, and soon
falling into the hands of the persecutors, spent
four or five years in different prisons, the last
of which was Wisbeach. From this prison he
made his escape by letting himself down by a
rope, and took shelter in a friend's house near
Lynn, Norfolk. His hands being much galled
and wounded by the friction of the rope, and
having no proper remedies, he applied to a
charitable lady, Lady 1'Estrange, who was skilled
in surgery and did much service to the poor.
She received him kindly, dressed his wounds,
and promised him her best assistance. She
could not, however, forbear describing to her
husband (a Justice of the Peace), Sir Hammond
1'Estrange, her new strange patient. The Jus
tice immediately cried out that he was the
priest escaped from Wisbeach, and must be
seized. The lady on her knees begged her hus
band to forget what she had said, adding that
she would be unhappy all her life if the priest
suffered through her. He, however, was appre
hended, and, in spite of her repeated entreaties,
was condemned and executed at Norwich,
thanking Sir Hammond for being chiefly instru
mental in bringing him to his end.
"And as he was sitting in the place of judgment
his wife sent to him saying : Have thou nothing
to do with that just man." — MATT, xxvii. 19.
207
July 14
THE LAW ETERNAL
t Ven. RICHARD LANGHORNE, L., 1679
IN spite of the penal statute forbidding Catholics
to follow the law, he had risen to eminence in
that profession, while at the same time he was
known as a zealous Catholic. For this reason
he was impeached by Gates as a ringleader in
his pretended plot. He defended himself with
great ability, proved an alibi against Gates'
statement as to where he lodged for the plot,
but all in vain ; he was condemned, and drawn
to Tyburn, July 14, 1679. In his printed speech
he declares his allegiance to the King, his
innocency of the plot, and the sinfulness of
treason. He then continued : " I take it to be
clear that my religion alone is the cause for
which I am accused and condemned. I have
had not only a pardon, but also great advan
tages as to preferments and estates offered me
in case I would forsake my religion, own myself
guilty, and charge others with the same crime.
By God's grace, I have chosen rather this death
than charge others against the truth." Great
as an exponent of human law, he was greater
still in sealing with his blood his adhesion to
the eternal law of God. With the words " Into
Thy hands I commend my spirit," he went to
his reward.
"Thy justice is justice for ever, and Thy law
is the truth." — Ps. cxviii. 142.
208
July 15
NO COMPROMISE
B. THOMAS MORE, L., 1535
His keenest trial arose from the endeavour of
his beloved daughter to persuade him to take
the oath, as she had done herself. She urged
that he was more to the King than any man in
England, and therefore ought to obey him in
what was not evidently repugnant to God's law.
That in favour of the oath were all the learned
men of England, and nearly all the bishops
and doctors, save Fisher. More answered that
he condemned no one for taking the oath, " for
some may do it upon temporal hopes, or fear of
great losses, for which I will never think any
have taken it ; for I imagine that nobody is so
frail and fearful as myself. Some may hope
that God will not impute it unto them for a sin,
because they do it by constraint. Some may
hope to do penance presently after, and others
are of opinion that God is not offended with our
mouth, so our heart be pure ; but as for my part
I dare not jeopardy myself upon these vain
hopes." As to the numbers against him, he
had on his side many more in other parts of
Christendom, and all the doctors of the Church.
" He that is not with Me is against Me : and
he that gathereth not with Me scattereth."
— MATT. xii. 30.
209 o
July 1 6
THE CONTINUITY THEORY
f Ven. JOHN SUGAR, Pr., 1604
OF a good Staffordshire family, and Merton
College, Oxford, though he refused the oath of
Supremacy, he officiated as a minister at Cank,
in his own county, and preached against the
Pope and the Catholic faith. At length his
eyes were opened to the truth ; he forsook all
worldly hopes, was reconciled, ordained, and
sent on the English Mission, 1601. His special
work was among the poorer Catholics in the
Midland counties, travelling on foot from place
to place, ministering to their needs. Appre
hended and sentenced at Warwick, at the
gallows he replied to the minister that his faith
was that of his mother, the Catholic Church,
and asked him in return who converted Eng
land? The minister was unable to reply. "Sugar
said : " The successor of St. Peter, Pope Eleu-
therius, who sent Damianus and Fugatius, two
learned and godly men, by whom Lucius, King
of Britain, and his subjects received the true
faith ; but this new religion," he said, " crept into
this country in the time of Henry VIII." As
the rope was put round his neck he blessed it,
saying, " My true birth in this world began
with the sign of the cross, and with that sign
I leave it again." He suffered at Warwick,
July 1 6.
" You are fellow-citizens with the saints . . .
built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
corner-stone." — EPH. ii. 19, 20.
210
July 17
ZEAL FOR MARTYRDOM
Ven. ROBERT GRISSOLD, L., 1604
HE was apprehended by his cousin, Clement
Grissold, for being in company with a priest,
V. Sugar, and refused to escape, both for his
love of the martyr and his own zeal to suffer.
At the Assizes at Warwick he was repeatedly
offered his liberty if he would promise to go to
church, but each time absolutely refused. On
the morning of his execution he spent one hour
in prayer, and begged all the Catholics to say
a Pater and Ave in honour of God and St.
Catherine, his patroness, Virgin, and Martyr,
for fortitude in his passion. To a Catholic
woman in tears, he said, "This is no place for
weeping, for you must come into the Bride
groom's chamber, not with tears, but with
rejoicing." As he walked to the gallows he
was bid not to follow V. Sugar, who was being
drawn through the mud j but he said, " I have
not thus far followed him to leave him for a little
mire." Although so timorous by nature that he
would swoon at the sight of blood, he gazed
unmoved at the quartering of V. Sugar's body,
and, taking the halter with which he was to be
hung, dipped it in V. Sugar's blood, and gave
God thanks that he was to die with him. He
suffered at Warwick, July 16.
" For I am ready not only to be bound, but to
die also in Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord
Jesus." — ACTS xxi. 13.
211
July 1 8
HIS FATHER'S SON
Ven. WILLIAM DAVIES, Pr., 1593
BORN of an old family in Carnarvonshire, he
studied at Rheims, was ordained, and sent en
the English Mission in 1585. He laboured in
his own county, and brought many lost sheep
back to the fold. On March 20, 1592, while
endeavouring to procure a passage for four young
men to Ireland, who were going to Valladolid to
study for the priesthood, he and his companions
were arrested and 'hurried off to Beaumaris.
Having confessed himself a priest, he was separ
ated from his companions and cast into a fetid
dungeon, but after a month he was allowed more
liberty, and was constantly consulted by the
Catholics for miles round. At the assizes he
was condemned to death, and his companions
found guilty of felony. After being removed to
various prisons he was brought to Beaumaris,
and the day of his execution fixed. He was,
however, so beloved that no one could be found
to act as hangman or to supply the materials
required ; at length, by the hands of strangers,
he suffered, July 27, 1593. The youngest of his
four companions was entrusted to a schoolmaster
to be whipped into conformity with the estab
lished religion. The boy, however, was whipped
in vain, and at length escaped to Ireland, when,
with a schoolfellow he had converted, he found
his way to Valladolid.
"He walked in the steps of his father." —
2 PARAL. xxxiv. 2.
212
July 19
BONES THOU HAST HUMBLED
t Ven. ANTHONY BROOKBY, O.S.F., 1537
AMONG the 200 Observants cast into prison by
Henry VIII was Father Brookby, Professor of
Divinity in Magdalen College, Oxford. He was
very learned in Greek and Hebrew, and was
distinguished as an eloquent preacher. One
day as he was preaching in the Church of St.
Laurence in London, he inveighed strongly
against the King's late proceedings. He was
consequently taken up by His Majesty's express
commands, and was thrown into a loathsome
dungeon. Here he was placed on the rack in
order to induce him to retract his words. But
he bore all the tortures with wonderful courage
and constancy, and, far from yielding a single
point, he only expressed an ardent desire to
suffer yet more cruel torments for the love of
God. So unusually barbarous was his racking
that every joint in his body was dislocated, and
he could not move or even raise his hand to
his mouth. For twenty-five days a devout old
woman charitably waited on him and fed him.
At the end of that time an executioner came to
him, by the King's command, and as he lay in
bed strangled him with the rope which he wore
as a girdle. He suffered, July 19, 1537.
" And the bones that have been humbled shall
rejoice." — Ps. 1. 10.
213
July 20
NO PRIEST, NO RELIGION
Yen. WILLIAM PLESSINGTON, 1679
"DEAR COUNTRYMEN, — I am here to be exe
cuted, neither for theft, murder, nor for anything
against the law of God, nor any fact or doctrine
inconsistent with monarchy or civil government.
I suppose several now present heard my trial at
last assizes and can testify that nothing was laid
to my charge but priesthood ; and I am sure you
will find that priesthood is neither against the
law of God, nor civil government, for ' no priest,
no religion,' St. Paul tells us (Heb. vii. and
xii.). The priesthood then being changed, re
ligion is changed, and consequently, the priest
hood being abolished, the law and religion are
quite gone. Nor let it be said that the law of
this land makes priests deriving their authority
from Rome traitors, for if that be so what be
comes of all the clergymen of the Church of
England ? The first Protestant bishops had
their ordination from those of Rome or none
at all. As the first Christians suffered as traitors
by the national laws, so do the priests of the
Roman Church here now ; but neither in Chris
tianity nor in the Roman Catholic faith is there
any point inconsistent with civil loyalty. I
have been a faithful subject, but a grievous
sinner against God, and I pray for His mercy."
"And the others were made many priests,
because by reason of death they were not suf
fered to continue : but this, for that He continueth
for ever, hath an everlasting priesthood." — HEB.
vii. 23, 24.
214
July 21
THE THREE CHILDREN IN THE
FURNACE
Ven. WILLIAM DAVIES, Pr., AND COM
PANIONS, 1592
IN his second imprisonment at Beaumaris, he
was allowed considerable liberty, as the gaolers
knew he would not attempt to escape, and were
won by the courage and patience he had already
displayed. Thus favoured, he formed with his
young companions a kind of religious com
munity observing the following rule of life : —
They all rose at 4 A.M. for one hour's medita
tion, followed by daily Mass, and the " O Sacrum
Convivium" being sung together. Then came
reading, study, and prayer, and after their meals
half-an-hour of the Imitation of Christ, fol
lowed by instructions from Ven. Davies on the
matter read, or on the lives of saints or Catholic
devotions. In the afternoon they recited to
gether the Litanies of the Blessed Virgin, re
sumed their studies and said the rosary. Each
evening Ven. Davies treated with those who
visited him on the concerns of their souls. At
night they recited together the Litanies of the
Saints, made their examination of conscience,
and so went to rest. Twice in the week they
confessed, and they communicated on all Sun
days and holidays, and thus they spent the last
six months before Father Davies' martyrdom,
" And they walked in the midst of the flame
praising God and blessing the Lord." — DAN.
iii: 24.
215
July 22
ALWAYS READY
f Ven. PHILIP EVANS, S.J., 1679
BORN in Monmouthshire, educated at St.
Omer's, he entered the Society, and laboured for
four years with great fruit on the English Mis
sion. On the breaking out of the Gates Plot per
secution, he was urged to fly, but chose rather
to risk his life amidst his flock. Apprehended,
he was condemned at Cardiff with Mr. John
Lloyd, a secular priest, who was his companion
to the end. The execution was so long deferred
that it was thought they would not suffer, and
they were allowed considerable liberty. One
day when Father Evans was out of doors en
gaged in some recreation, the gaoler brought
him the news that he was to be executed on the
morrow, and must return to prison. " Why so
much haste?" said Father Evans; "let me
finish my game first." And so he did, and then
returned to prison, and felt he could scarce
contain himself for joy, and taking his harp,
for he was a musician, he made it tell his soul's
happiness. His irons were so firmly riveted
that their removal lasted an hour and caused
great pain, but his patience was never disturbed.
On the scaffold he declared his innocence, and
with a bright and cheerful countenance went to
his reward. He was but thirty- four years of
age, and had spent fourteen in the Society.
" My heart is ready, O God, my heart is
ready : I will sing and will give praise." — PS.
cvii. 2.
216
July 23
A FALL AND A RISING
Yen. RICHARD SYMPSON, Pr., 1588
FROM the Protestant ministry he became a
priest. After being several times imprisoned,
he was finally condemned at York, 1588. Hav
ing a reprieve, he appears to have given some
semblance of conformity, but was reclaimed by
his fellow-prisoners, VV. Garlick and Ludlam,
and on July 24 martyred with them, as an eye
witness and poet thus describes : —
When Garlick did the ladder kiss,
And Sympson after hie,
Methought that there St. Andrew was
Desirous for to die.
When Ludlam looked smilingly
And joyful did remain,
It seemed St. Stephen was standing by
For to be stoned again.
And what if Sympson seemed to yield
For doubt and dread to die,
He rose again and won the field,
And died more constantly.
His watching, fast, and shirt of hair,
His speech and death and all,
Do record give, do witness bear,
He wailed his former fall.
" To him that shall overcome I will give to
sit with Me on My throne." — APOC. iii. 21.
217
July 24
ANOTHER JUDAS
f Ven. JOHN BOST, Pr., 1594
OF a good Cumberland family, he was held
in great esteem by the Protestant Bishop of
Durham, Sir Tobie Matthew, for his high char
acter and scholarship. But he gave up all hope
of preferment, was reconciled to the Church,
and began his work as a priest in the English
Mission in 1581. He was so successful in his
labours that the Earl of Huntington, the bigoted
Lord President of the North, was most intent
on his capture. This, one Francis Ecclesfield,
an apostate Catholic, promised to effect ; but
Father Bost several times, though narrowly,
eluded his grasp. At length, to make sure of
his game, the traitor presented himself to the
priest as a penitent in the house of Mr. Claxton,
and went to Confession and Communion. He
then went straight from the Sacred Mysteries
and brought in the pursuivants. Even then the
priest was so well concealed that he could not
be found till, by making breaches in the wall,
the prey was discovered. Father Bost was
sent to London, and there so cruelly racked that
he could only move stooping on a stick. He
was in the end sent back to Durham, and there
hanged, July 24, 1594. As his heart was being
torn out he cried out thrice, " Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
forgive them."
"And after the morsel, Satan entered into
him." — JOHN xiii. 27.
218
July 25
THE SEED OF THE CHURCH
f Ven. JOHN INGRAM, Pr., 1594
A CONVERT, expelled for recusancy from New
College, Oxford, he was apprehended as a priest
in the North, and was cruelly racked to extort
from him the names of Catholics. But his lips
were sealed, and Topcliffe, enraged, called him
a monster for his taciturnity. Before his
execution at Newcastle he wrote to his fellow-
prisoners, thanking his benefactors, and assur
ing them that, though pained in body, his spirit
was in no distress. " Although I have laboured,"
he says, "in the vineyard, I doubt not, if God
will strengthen me through your and my
patron's prayers, I shall purchase for our Baby-
Ionic soil more favour by my death. The blood
of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church. To
those who have offered a thousand crowns for
my life, as my Lord Chamberlain imparted, I
return a thousand thanks and make the return
of my bloody sacrifice for their oblation. To
all my spiritual children I send greeting, and
pray God for their constancy in the true way
of salvation. My casual friends I salute and
desire their conversion. I love them most
entirely, but my Creator in a far higher degree.
God protect you all and bless you to suffer for
justice' sake. In visceribus Christi," July 25,
1594.
"As dying, and behold we live."— 2 COR. vi. 9.
219
July 26
A BROTHER IN NEED
t Yen. GEORGE SWALLOWELL, 1594
A PROTESTANT reader in the Bishopric of
Durham, he paid a visit to a Catholic gentleman
imprisoned for recusancy, who pressed him on
the question of his authority to preach. Con
vinced of the absurdity of making a woman the
head of the Church, against the words of St.
Paul, he publicly professed from the pulpit his
conviction that he was no true minister, and
would no longer officiate in that Church. Upon
this he was arrested, and, after a year's imprison
ment in Durham gaol, was brought to the bar
with FF. Bost and Ingram. At first, through
fear of death, he promised the judges to con
form, on which 'Father Bost, looking at him,
said, " George Swallowell, what hast thou
done?" and he, horrified, begged in return to
have his word back. Cautioned that death
would be the consequence, he boldly said that
he "professed the same faith as the two priests,
and would die their death." With that Father
Bost looked at him again and said, " Hold thee
there, Swallowell, and my soul for thine," and
with these words laid his hand on his head.
Then the Lord President said. "Away with
Bost, for he is reconciling him." Swallowell
won his crown with great constancy, Darling
ton, July 26.
" A brother that is helped by a brother is like
a strong city." — PROV. xviii. 19.
220
July 27
VOICES FROM HEAVEN
f Ven. ROBERT SUTTON, Pr., 1587
USURPER of the office of parish priest in Lutter-
worth, Warwickshire, he was converted by his
younger brother to the Catholic faith. In order
the better to satisfy God and his parishioners,
before quitting a place he had held so many
years unjustly, he brought them all together to
speak to them. He began by begging their
pardon with great sorrow for having been so
long not only a blind guide, but their leader into
pitfalls and noxious errors, and declared there
was no hope of salvation outside the Roman
Church. He then came down from the pulpit,
threw off his gown, being already booted, rode
to London, and crossed to Rheims. Returning
as a priest, he laboured strenuously, was seized
and condemned. The night before his passion
some Catholic fellow-prisoners heard him in
conversation with others. Knowing that he was
in strict solitary confinement, and fearing that
his life was secretly attempted, they examined
the door of his cell, which they found securely
shut, and, looking through the window, they saw
him enveloped in light and praying. The next
morning on leaving his cell he asked their
prayers to God, "from Whom," he said, " I have
received greater consolation than I deserved."
And so he finished his course, Stafford, July 27,
1587.
" I heard a Voice from Heaven saying to me,
* Write : Blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord.'" — APOC. xiv. 13.
221
July 28
A CLIENT OF ST. ANNE
Ven. WILLIAM WARD, O.S.F., 1641
HE was the first martyr under the persecution,
renewed in spite of his promises, by Charles I.
Born a Protestant, of a good Westmorland
family, educated at Brasenose College, Oxford,
he became a Catholic travelling abroad. On
his return he practised his religion so openly
that he was in prison at different times for
nearly ten years. He entered Douay, was
ordained priest 1608, and embarked for Eng
land. A contrary wind, however, drove him to
Scotland, where, as a suspected priest, he was
kept in an underground dungeon, in total dark
ness, for three years. Set free, he returned to
England, and for thirty years, twenty of which
were spent in prison, in spite of continuous
suffering from a corrosive fistula and chronic
toothache, he toiled for souls. He never
preached, but holy conversation and the Sacra
ment of Penance were the weapons of his
Apostolate, and the harvest reaped was abun
dant. When over eighty years of age, he was
sentenced for saying Mass. He had a true
Franciscan devotion to our Blessed Lady, and
had always kept the Feast of her mother St.
Anne with great solemnity, and he was now
granted to die on that day. In the morning he
said Mass, and going forth with joy won his
crown.
" Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her
works praise her in the gates." — PROV. xxxi. 31.
222
July 29
A BURNING HEART
Ven. WILLIAM WARD, O.S.F., 1641
"BEHOLD the heart of a traitor!" cried the
hangman, with the martyr's heart still pal
pitating in his hand, and threw it into the fire.
Eager to obtain a relic, Count Egmont, a pious
Catholic then in England, sent his servant
with his handkerchief to dip it in the martyr's
blood. Others, however, had been before him
and not a drop remained. Searching in the
ashes the servant found a heap of flesh singed
with the fiery coals, and hastily wrapped the
whole mass in his handkerchief. An attempt
being now made to seize him, he fled across
Hyde Park ; but as his pursuers gained he pre
tended to stumble, and hid his treasure in a
bush as he fell. Taken before the magistrates,
he was released through the Count's interest.
The next day he returned and found his trea
sure, which proved to be the martyr's heart.
As with St. Laurence, the divine fire within
was stronger than the outward earthly flame.
The hot coals adhering to the flesh had not
burned the handkerchief, and the heart itself
remained fifteen days incorrupt, when the
Count had it embalmed, and took it to Paris
with the relics of fourteen other martyrs whose
executions he had witnessed, and on July 26,
1650, he signed and sealed the formal deed of
authentication now in the archives of Lille.
"And there came in my heart as a burning
fire shut up in my bones." — JER. xx. 9.
223
July 30
AT LAST
f B. THOMAS ABEL, Pr., 1540
QUEEN CATHERINE'S confidential chaplain,
and one of her defenders in the divorce case,
he had languished some six years in prison,
hoping for the end. The news of B. Forest's
"greater combat" had doubtless reached his
cell, but, far from intimidating him, served both
to intensify his longing for the crown and at
the same time to strengthen his patience in
awaiting God's will. At last, in 1540, he,
Richard Featherston, and Edward Powel,
priests, and co-defenders with him of Queen
Catherine in the divorce, were attainted for
denying the King's supremacy and adhering
to the Pope's, and on July 30 they were led out
to execution. In grim mockery three Pro
testants — Barnes, Garret, and Jerome — who
were attainted for heresy, were made to suffer
with them, a Catholic and a Protestant being
coupled together on each hurdle. On arriving
at Smithfield the three Catholics were hanged,
drawn, and quartered, and the three Protestants
were burnt. A Frenchman who stood by, on
beholding the strange exhibition of capricious
cruelty, said to a friend in Latin : " They have
quaint ways of managing things in England —
those who are for the Pope are hanged, and
those who are against him are burned."
" Wait on God with patience ; join thyself to
God and endure, that thy life may be increased
in the latter end." — ECCLUS. ii. 3.
224
July 31
SHOD FOR THE GOSPEL
t B. EVERARD HANSE, Pr., 1581
BORN of Protestant parents in Northampton
shire, he received heretical Orders and was
presented to a rich living. His preaching was
much admired, and he was carried away by his
success. Meantime his brother William, having
been reconciled, went to Rheims, and in 1579
returned to England as a priest. He tried in
vain to open Everard's eyes to the truth, but a
dangerous illness placed all things in a new
light, and William had the consolation of re
ceiving his brother into the Church. Everard
lost no time in entering the seminary at Rheims,
and in 1581 was sent as a priest on the English
Mission. He was visiting some prisoners in
the Marshalsea when the gaoler noticed the
foreign make of his boots, and took him before
a magistrate. He confessed himself a priest,
and only three months after his arrival in
England he was imprisoned in Newgate. On
his trial he publicly defended the Pope's
spiritual supremacy, and frankly confessed that
he wished all believed the Catholic faith, as
he did himself. That was enough. He was
sentenced to death, and on the scaffold he
appeared bright and untroubled as ever. When
his heart was thrown into the fire, it leapt re
peatedly, as if marking God's approval of his
constancy. He suffered at Tyburn, July 31.
" How beautiful are the feet of those that
preach the gospel of peace, that bring glad
tidings of good things." — ROM. x. 15.
August i
PETER REPENTANT
JOHN THOMAS, L., 1593
HE was condemned, together with Bird, but,
horrified at the sentence of death, promised the
judge he would go to Church. The judge could
not recall the sentence given, so countermanded
his execution till the Queen's pardon should
arrive. On his return to prison, helped pro
bably by Bird's exhortations, he conquered the
fear of death by the fear of Hell, and sent word
at once to the judge that he repented of his
cowardice, and would do nothing contrary to his
duty as a Catholic. The judge said, " Is he in
such a hurry for the gallows ? Let him not be
afraid ; if he persists we can hang him at the
next assizes." Yet he appeared at the gallows
with the other criminals, carrying his winding-
sheet, and said to the Sheriff he had been con
demned and had come to die. But the Sheriff
said that, though he would meet his wishes with
the greatest pleasure, were it in his power, he
could not do so, as his name was not on the list.
So Thomas retired, lamenting his sin and his
past life, for he had been a Calvinist minister ;
but God did not fail him, and, purged by a long
penance, with a large increase of merits, in the
August following he obtained what he desired,
at Bardich, Winchester.
" And the Lord turning looked on Peter . . .
and Peter going out wept bitterly." — LUKE xxii.
61, 62.
226
August 2
CASTING OUT FEAR
Ven. THOMAS WHITAKER, Pr., 1646
His father was master of a noted free-school in
Burnley, Lancashire, and Thomas, showing pro
mise, was sent to the English College, Valla-
dolid, at the charge of a neighbouring Catholic
family, Townley of Townley. He entered on
the English Mission in 1638, and gained many
souls, facing bravely all dangers, notwithstand
ing his naturally timorous disposition. Being
urged, on the road to Lancaster, to effect his
escape from the room in which he was con
fined, he stripped himself, and, forgetting to
throw out his clothes before him, the passage
gained he found himself free, but naked. After
wandering some miles in this strange condition,
he providentially met with a Catholic, who gave
him shelter and clothing. Again arrested, he
was cruelly beaten and cast into Lancaster gaol.
There for three years his life was spent in con
tinual prayer to God to strengthen him for the
combat, and in ministering to the two priests,
Father Bramberand Father Woodcock, O.S.B.,
his seniors, who were his fellow-prisoners. His
trial and sentence were quickly despatched as
he had confessed himself a priest. At the place
of execution his anguish of soul was evident, but
grace triumphed over nature. He absolutely
refused a proffered pardon, and with Father
Bramber and Father Woodcock, O.S.B., he
won his crown, Lancaster, August 7.
" Perfect charity casteth out fear." — i JOHN
iv. 1 8.
227
August 3
THE BAPTIST AND HEROD
t Ven. THOMAS BELCHIAM, O.S.F., 1538
VERY learned and a great preacher, at the age
of twenty-eight he distinguished himself by his
bold opposition to the tyranny of Henry VIII.
In his book on the text, "They that wear soft
clothing are in King's houses," he denounced
the vices of the court and the avarice of the
pliant clergy, and was therefore cast into prison.
There, while being slowly starved to death, he
was subjected to every sort of torture, but
triumphed over all. Mere skin and bone, when
at the point of expiring he commended his soul
to God in the words, "In Thee, O Lord, have I
put my trust ; let me never be confounded." As
he expired the gaol shook as if with an earth
quake, and the keepers were terrified. The
King himself was startled by this supernatural
warning, and ordered him a decent burial, and
on reading Father Belchiam's book he burst out
weeping and deploring bitterly his own misery.
The good impression, however, soon faded out,
and he commanded the book to be burnt. But
the King's jester, William Summer, daft from
his birth, ran through the King's court exclaim
ing, " The plain dealing of one beggar baffles
the King's anger."
" And the king was struck sad ; yet because
of his oath and for them that sat with him at
table ... he sent and beheaded John in
prison." — MATT. xiv. 9, 10.
228
August 4
THE INNER LIFE
Ven. NICHOLAS POSTGATE, Pr., 1679
BORN in Yorkshire of parents great sufferers for
the faith, he returned from Douay to the English
Mission, June 1630. He laboured in his native
county and converted hundreds from sin and
heresy. With all his active work he led the life
of a solitary in a hut on Blackamoor, which is
thus described by a contemporary : —
Nor spared they Father Posket's blood,
A reverend priest, devout and good,
Whose spotless life in length was spun
To eighty years and three times one.
Sweet his behaviour, grave his speech,
He did by good example teach. .
His love right bent, his will resigned,
Serene his look and calm his mind ;
His sanctity to that degree
As Angels live, so -lived he.
A thatched cottage was the cell
Where this contemplative did dwell,
Two miles from Mulgrave Castle 't stood,
Sheltered by snow-drifts, not by wood.
Tho' there he lived to that great age
It was a dismal hermitage,
But God placed there the Saint's abode
For Blackamoor's greater good.
" You are dead and your life is hid with Christ
in God." — COL. iii. 3.
229
August 5
THE WINGS OF A DOVE
Ven. NICHOLAS POSTGATE, Pr., 1679
HUNTED about during the Gates persecution, he
was at last arrested and condemned, not as a
plotter, but for high treason as a priest. On the
eve of his martyrdom at York came, with other
visitors, Mrs. Charles Fairfax and Mrs. Meynel
of Kilvington in great grief at taking leave of
him. But the Confessor, bright and cheerful,
laid his right hand on one and his left on the
other and said, " Be of good heart, you shall both
be delivered of sons, and they will be both saved."
The two ladies gave birth to sons, who were
baptized and died in infancy. In his weary
hunted life he prayed as follows : —
And thus, dear Lord, I fly about
In weak and weary case ;
And, like a dove in Noe's Ark,
I find no resting-place.
My wearied limbs, sweet Jesus, mark ;
And when Thou thinkest best,
Stretch forth Thy hand out of the ark
And take me to Thy breast.
The new Mission of Pickering is a memorial
of the Martyr's ministry.
" Who will give me wings like a dove, and I
will fly and be at rest." — Ps. liv. 7.
230
August 6
TWICE HANGED
Ven. JOHN WOODCOCK, O.S.F., 1646
ON hearing his sentence s he was filled with
inexpressible joy and exclaimed, "Praise be
to God ; God be thanked." FF. Bamber and
Reding, two secular priests, were condemned at
the same time. The following night Father
Woodcock spent in prayer and joyful contem
plation. At the dawn of day, August 7th, he and
his two companions were led out in the usual way
to execution. An immense and noisy crowd fol
lowed them with abuse and insult. The Catholics
who were present were greatly edified and con
soled, and not a few Protestants were astonished
at their constancy. Father Woodcock was the
first to mount the ladder. After he had said a
few words on the Catholic and Roman faith he
was cast off, but by some accident, or through the
carelessness of the executioner, the rope broke
and he fell to the ground. He was stunned for
a moment, but quickly recovered himself and
rose to his feet unhurt. At the Sheriff's order he
mounted the ladder again, and, after being thus
hanged a second time, he was cut down and
butchered alive. As the executioner's hand was
within his body, " Jesus " broke from his lips.
" Thy dead men shall live, my slain shall rise
again : awake and give praise, ye that dwell in
the dust : for thy dew is the dew of the light:
and the land of the giants thou shalt pull down
into ruin." — ISA. xxvi. 19.
231
August 7
A PUBLIC CONFESSION
t Ven. EDWARD B AMBER, Pr., 1646
BORN at the Moor, the ancient place of his
family in Lancashire, he made his studies at
Valladolid, and returned to England a priest.
The brief memoirs of his life speak of his inde
fatigable labours in saving souls, his unwearied
diligence in instructing Catholics and convert
ing Protestants, the good he did in times and
places of the greatest danger, and the courage
he displayed as above the strength of man.
He was apprehended during the Civil War, and
was kept thereafter in Lancaster Castle for three
years without trial. At length the Sessions were
re-opened, and, on the worthless evidence of
two apostates, he was sentenced. On August 7th
he and two fellow-priests were drawn to the
place of execution, and one Croft, a wretched
felon, was brought to die with them. Father
Bamber used all his efforts to save the man's
soul, promising him, if he would only repent,
declare himself a Catholic, and publicly confess
some of his more public sins, he would absolve
him. In spite of the threats and clamours of
the officials and minister, the prisoner openly
declared he died a Catholic, publicly confessed
some of his most scandalous crimes, and was
publicly absolved by Father Bamber. The
priest and the penitent then sealed their pro
fession with their blood.
" Confess your sins one to another." — JAS.
v. 1 6.
232
August 8
A CHAMPION OF THE POPE
t B. JOHN FELTON, L., 1570
As a cruel persecutor of the faith she had
sworn to defend, Elizabeth was excommuni
cated and deposed by St. Pius V, February 24,
1570, and the Bull of excommunication was
found on May 25, the Feast of Corpus Christi,
on the gates of the Bishop of London's palace,
where it had been placed by John Felton, a
brave and zealous Catholic gentleman. After
this act he refused to fly, trusting, he said, to
God's grace for whatever might happen, and
when the escort arrived for his arrest, he volun
tarily surrendered himself. Both at his appre
hension and his trial, he openly acknowledged
having posted up the Bull, and said that, as he
held the Pope to be the Vicar of Christ, what
came from him ought to be duly venerated.
Notwithstanding this public confession, he was
three times racked in the vain hope of extract
ing from him admission, compromising others.
In his satin doublet, on the day of his martyr
dom, as he faced the crowd, calm and un
moved, he looked indeed a royal champion,
and he told the people that he died for the
Catholic faith. His last words on being dis
embowelled were "Jesus, Jesus." He sent the
Queen, from the scaffold, a ring worth ^400,
showing he bore her personally no ill-will.
He suffered, St. Paul's Churchyard, London,
August 8.
" Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build My Church."— MATT. xvi. 18.
233
August 9
POISON DETECTED
f Ven. THOMAS PALASOR, Pr., 1600
A YORKSHIRE man by birth, he was appre
hended as a priest in the house of Mr. John
Norton in that county, with his host and Mr.
John Talbot, and all three were confined in
Durham gaol. There at dinner some broth
was set before Mr. Palasor, and, on his pre
paring to taste it, the bone of mutton in the dish
ran blood in the form of crosses, and of O's in
the broth. He therefore abstained from taking
it. The maid, noticing this, carried the broth
back to her mistress, who spiced it over and
sent it by the same maid to Mr. Talbot and
Mr. Norton, when the same phenomenon was
repeated. The maid, by name Mary Day, see
ing this, came to Palasor, confessed that the
broth had been poisoned by the malice of her
mistress, the gaoler's wife, and on her knees
begged his forgiveness, and asked him to make
her one of his faith. She was instructed and
reconciled, and became servant to a Catholic
gentlewoman, Eleanor Forcer, who bore testi
mony to the above occurrence. Palasor was
condemned to death for returning to England
as a priest, contrary to the statute, and Mr.
Norton and Mr. Talbot received the same
sentence for harbouring and assisting him, and
all three together were executed at Durham.
"They shall take up serpents, and, if they
shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt
them." — MARK xvi. 18.
234
August 10
FORWARD TO THE MARK
Ven. JOHN WOODCOCK, O.S.F., 1646
BORN in Lancashire of a Protestant fatherr
through his mother, a pious Catholic, he was
educated at St. Omer's and the English College,
Rome. There he conceived the desire for a
higher penitential life, and found admission
with the Capuchins in Paris. " 1 have put on
the habit, 1 praise sweet Jesus, almost three
months," he wrote ; but his joy was short. Owing
to the opposition of his relatives in England to
his entering religion, and his weak health, in
spite of his extraordinary piety he was dismissed
the Order. He felt these reasons to be in
sufficient, and his aim never slackened to be
a religious, and, further, to go on the English
Mission. Eventually, after many difficulties,
through the advocacy of his old friend Father
William Anderton, a Recollect, he obtained
admission into that Order. His illnesses were
now frequent and grave, and he was sent to
Spa for the waters. There he met with the
Commissary General of his Order, and obtained
at last leave to sail to England. H e had scarcely
landed when he was apprehended, and, owing
to the Civil War, remained for two years in
Lancaster gaol, till he was sentenced and exe
cuted, and his perseverance was rewarded.
" One thing I do : forgetting the things that
are behind, I press forward to the mark, to the
prize of the supernal vocation of God in Christ
Jesus."— PHIL. iii. 13, 14.
235
August 1 1
THE NORTHERN RISING
LETTER OF ST. Pius V
To the leaders of the Rising, the Earls of
Westmorland and Northumberland, who sought
his advice, the Pope replied as follows : " Our
Lord Jesus Christ has inspired you with this
resolution (which is worthy of your zeal for the
Catholic faith) to endeavour, by delivering your
selves and your kingdom from a woman's
passion, to restore it to its ancient obedience
to the Holy Roman See. And if in maintain
ing the Catholic faith and authority of this Holy
See your blood should be shed, it is far better
to pass quickly to Eternal life than to live on
in shame and ignominy to the loss of your souls,
subject to a feeble woman's passion. For think
not, beloved sons in Christ, that those Bishops
or other leading Catholics of your country whom
you mention have made an unhappy end ; who
for their refusal to give up their confession of
the Catholic faith have been either cast into
prison or unjustly visited with other penalties.
For their constancy, which has been encouraged
by the example (still, as we believe, effective) of
the B. Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, can
be praised by none as much as it deserves.
Imitate this constancy yourselves. Be brave
and firm in your resolve, and abandon not your
undertaking through fear or threat of danger."
"Behold, He shall neither slumber nor sleep
that keepeth Israel." — Ps. cxx. 4.
236
August 12
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
B. THOMAS PERCY, L., 1572
THE freedom to practise their religion, which
Catholics had regained under Mary, was
rudely swept .away by Elizabeth. By the Act
of Supremacy the authority of the Pope was
abolished, and his jurisdiction transferred to
the Crown. By the Act of Uniformity the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass was prohibited, and in all
churches the Protestant Book of Common Prayer
was alone to be used. Transgression of the
above Acts incurred for the first offence for
feiture of property, for the second perpetual
imprisonment, for the third death. Thus the
sanctuaries revered for ages became empty
sepulchres. The Royal Arms were substituted
for the Crucifix, the images of Our Lady and the
Saints were torn down, and the innumerable
altars overturned and desecrated. Non-attend
ance at the Protestant Church was punishable
with a fine ; the exercise of any priestly office
with imprisonment — if repeated, with death.
This sacrilegious usurpation of religious autho
rity by the Crown, the privation of the Sacra
ments even at the hour of death, the absolute
hopelessness of obtaining any constitutional
redress, led to the Northern Rising, in which
B. Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland,
laid down his life for the faith.
"And behold our sanctuary and our beauty
and our glory is laid waste, and the Gentiles
have defiled them. To what end, then, should
we live any longer?" — i MACH. ii. 12.
237
August 13
CLEANSING THE TEMPLE
B. THOMAS PERCY, L., 1572
THE first act of B. Thomas with his companions
and followers on entering Durham was to seize
the Cathedral and purge it of every heretical
token. The Communion table was broken up,
the Protestant Bible and Book of Common
Prayer were burnt. The Catholic revival spread
far and wide with marvellous speed. Altars
were erected, holy water-stoups replaced, and
everything prepared for the Holy Sacrifice.
On Sunday, St. Andrew's Day 1569, the first
High Mass was sung, the whole official choir
assisting in the thronged Cathedral, and the
reconciliation of Durham to the Church was
crowned on December 4, then the second Sun
day in Advent, by the priest F. Holmes bearing
special faculties from Rome. Mounting the
pulpit after preaching on the state of heresy
and schism in the religion established by law,
he exhorted his hearers to submit once more
to the Holy See and to kneel down in proof
thereof. He then publicly absolved the pros
trate crowd from their censure, and reconciled
them to the Catholic Church. Holy Mass was
then offered in reparation and thanksgiving.
"In the same day wherein the heathen had
defiled it was it dedicated anew with canticles
and harps and lutes and cymbals. And all the
people fell upon their faces and adored and
blessed up to Heaven Him that had prospered
them.53— i MACH. iv. 54, 55.
238
August 14
ABSOLVED FROM AFAR
YEN. HUGH GREEN, Pr., 1642
BORN in London, and a convert from Cam
bridge, he was arrested in attempting to leave
England, in consequence of Charles I's banish
ment of priests, and sentenced after five months'
imprisonment. Dame Willoughby, an eye-wit
ness, says, that "his devotion on his way to
death was most edifying. He was taken from
the hurdle and kept on the hill at some distance
from the scaffold until three poor women were
hanged. Two of them had sent him word the
night before that they would die in his faith.
This comforted him much, for he had done his
utmost to speak with them, but failed. They
therefore sent again to desire him that when
they had made a confession of their sinful lives
at the foot of the gallows, on their making the
sign he should absolve them. This with great
joy |in his heart, and much benefit (as it is
hoped) on theirs, was performed. They then
turned their faces towards us, and throwing forth
their arms cried out to him, ' God be with you,
sir,' and so died. But the third woman turned
from us towards the press of people, her face or
speech never tending towards us."
" The Spirit breatheth where He will."— JOHN
iii.8.
239
August 15
THE FOUR LAST THINGS
Yen. HUGH GREEN, Pr., 1642, on the
Scaffold
" THERE be four principal things which all men
ought to remember : death, judgment, Heaven
and Hell. Death is a horror to nature, but that
which followeth is much more terrible, viz. judg
ment, if we die not as we ought ; and as we dis
pose ourselves to good or evil in this life, so
shall the measure of our punishment or glory
succeed. I am here condemned to die for my
religion and for being a priest : we know there
must be priests, for God, foretelling of the Church
by the prophets, saith, 'Thou art a priest for
ever after the order of Melchisedech ' (Ps. cix.).
1 And from the rising of the sun unto the going
down thereof, there shall be a clean sacrifice
offered in My Name' (Mai. i.). Now -four
things are to be considered : a God, a sacrifice,
a priest, a man : such am I, and therefore I
must die. Wherefore do we receive holy unc
tion and are made priests but to offer sacrifice
to God ? But I am condemned for being or
dained by the See of Rome. St. Paul saith,
'the Romans have the Catholic faith' and gives
God thanks that their faith and his were one, of
which Catholic faith I am."
" In all thy works remember thy last end and
thou shalt never sin." — EcCLUS. vii. 40.
240
August 1 6
FOUR THINGS MORE
Ven. HUGH GREEN, Pr., 1642, on the
Scaffold
"THERE be four things more: one God, one
faith, one baptism, one Church. That there is
one God we all acknowledge, in whom, from
whom, and by whom all things remain and have
their being. That there is one faith appears
by Christ's praying that St. Peter's faith (He
said not faiths) should never fail ; and He pro
mised to be with it to the end of the world.
That there is one baptism : we are all cleansed
by the laver of water in the Word. That there
is one Church, holy and sanctified : doth not
St. Paul say that it is a glorious Church without
spot or wrinkle or any such thing ? Now the
marks of this Church are sanctity, unity, anti
quity, universality, .which all of us in all points
of faith believe. But some will say we are fallen
off from this Church of Rome, but in what
pope's time, in what prince's reign, or what are
the errors, none can discover. No, this holy
Church of Christ did never err. By the law I am
now to die for being a priest. Judge you, can
these new laws overthrow the authority of God's
Church ? Nevertheless, I forgive you, and pray
God for all."
"That they may be one, as we also are
one." — JOHN xvii. 22.
241 Q
August 17
A HUNTED LIFE
Ven. THOMAS HOLFORD, Pr., 1588
THE son of a Protestant minister in Cheshire,
he was reconciled by Father Davis, and ordained,
and his life as a priest seems to have been a
fulfilment of the Gospel precept of flight under
persecution. " He was first searched for," says
Father Davis, "in the house where I lay, on
All Souls' Day, but escaped. Again, after being
nearly taken in the search for Babington, he
repaired again to a house where I was staying,
but we escaped to a hay-barn, through a secret
place at the foot of the stairs. He then laboured
for souls in his own county, Cheshire, was ap
prehended, sent to London, and lodged in an
inn at Holborn. Then, rising early, he managed
to pass the pursuivants, who had drunk hard
and were asleep. On Holborn Viaduct he met
a Catholic gentleman, who, seeing him half-
dressed, thought him a madman. Pulling off
his yellow stocking and white boot-hose, he
walked barefoot by unfrequented paths till he
arrived, late at night, at a house where I lay,
about eight miles from London. He had eaten
nothing, and his feet were bleeding and torn
with briars and thorns. My hosts and their
daughters tended him and put him to bed.
The next year he was apprehended, and
executed, August 28, at Clerkenwell."
" They wandered about in sheep-skins and
goat-skins, being in want, distressed, afflicted,
of whom the world was not worthy." — HEB. xi.
37, 38.
4 242
August 1 8
THE ETERNAL PRIESTHOOD
Ven. ROGER CADWALLADOR, Pr., 1610
A NATIVE of Herefordshire, very learned and
a noted Greek scholar, he began his priestly
labours in England about 1594, and during
sixteen years won many souls to the Church.
Apprehended on Easter Day, in the house of
Mrs. Winefride Scroope, near Hereford, he
acknowledged to the Protestant Bishop that he
was a priest, and added that he supposed that
this would riot be against him with the Bishop,
whose special concern it was to maintain the
sacerdotal dignity. " For, my Lord, either you
must admit yourself to be a priest, or I can
prove you to be no Bishop." The Bishop insisted
that Christ was the only sacrificing priest of the
New Testament, in that sense of the word, which
is not common to all Christians, and hoped thus
to free himself from being a priest. On which
the Martyr replied, " Make that good, I pray
you, my Lord, for so you will prove that I am
no more a priest than other men, and con
sequently no traitor or offender against your
law"; on which one, Holkins, to cover the
Bishop's disgrace, said that the King himself
had said that these kind of men were so
numerous that he should never have done if he
put them all to death.
" But this (Jesus) for that He continueth for
ever hath an everlasting priesthood." — ROM.
vii. 24.
243
August 19
A LAMENTATION FULFILLED
f Ven. HUGH GREEN, Pr., 1642
" AFTER he was cut down he came to his per
fect senses," writes Dame Willoughby, "and
sat upright. Then the people pulled him down
by the rope which was about his neck ; then
did the butcher cut him open, and turned the
flap upon his breast, which the holy man feeling
put his hand upon his bowels, and looking on
his bloody hand laid it down by his side, and
lifting up his right hand crossed himself, saying
three times, ' Jesu, Jesu, Jesu mercy ! ' The
which, although unworthy, I am a witness of,
for my hand was on his forehead, and many
Protestants heard him and took great notice of
it ; for all the Catholics were pressed away by
the unruly multitude except myself, who never
left him until his head was severed from his
body. Whilst he was thus calling upon Jesus,
the butcher did pull a piece of his liver out
instead of his heart, then with his knife raked
on the body of the blessed martyr, who even
then called on Jesus, and his forehead sweat,
then it was cold, presently again burned ; his
eyes, nose, and mouth ran with with blood and
water. His patience was admirable, though his
inward groans gave signs of those lamentable
torments which for more than half-an-hour he
suffered."
" My eyes have failed with weeping, my
bowels are troubled, my liver is poured out upon
the earth."— LAM. ii. n.
244
August 20
THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER
B. THOMAS PERCY, L., 1572
A GALLANT sight must have been the men of
the Rising on the march. Nobles, knights with
their tenants equipped for war, labourers and
peasants unarmed but stout of heart, all wearing
the Red Cross, their Standard the Five Sacred
Wounds ; its bearer, the grey-haired Richard
Norton, late High Sheriff of Yorkshire. Among
their chaplains, B. Thomas Plumtree, and head
ing the force the Earl and his brave-hearted
Countess. They advanced as far south as
Clifford Moor, near Wetherby, but their divided
counsels and want of supplies forced them to
retire, and at the advice of the Earl, anxious to
avoid useless bloodshed, they dispersed. The
cold-blooded revenge of Elizabeth displayed at
once her avarice and cruelty. The gentlemen
and yeomen were allowed to escape with a
fine, but the peasants were hung by hundreds.
The Earl fled to Scotland, and, consenting to
meet an envoy from the Regent, was treacher
ously captured and confined in Lochleven.
Thence after two years and a half imprisonment
he was handed over to Elizabeth, who thirsted
for his blood, for ^2000. He was conveyed to
York, where, after refusing to save his life by
apostasy, he won his crown, August 22, 1572.
"But they appointed him thirty pieces of
silver, and from thenceforth he sought oppor
tunity to betray Him." — MATT. xxvi. 16.
245
August 21
THE FRIDAY ABSTINENCE
B. THOMAS PERCY, L., 1572
TORN from his friends and followers, from his
wife and his four little girls, and betrayed into
the hands of a declared enemy, B. Thomas in
his captivity at Lochleven had indeed " sunk
into deep waters among them that hated him "
(Ps. Ixviii.). But he found strength from above
in his continual fasts and watchings and pious
meditations, and proved himself a true champion
of the faith. His Calvinist keeper, the Lord of
Lochleven, brought many of his sect to try and
persuade him, by cunning argument and speeches
or by threats and promises, to embrace their
errors, but he could never be persuaded to
depart in the smallest matter from the Com
munion of the Catholic Church. When, as
often happened, meat was brought to him on
days which Catholics observe as a fast, he con
tented himself with bread alone ; and by his
example moved some of those attending on
him to repent of their apostasy. The fortitude
he thus acquired found a witness in Lord
Hunsdon, who reported " that he is readier to
talk of hawks and hounds than anything else,
though very sorrowful and fearing for his life."
"Eleazer, one of the chief of the scribes,
was pressed to eat swine's flesh. But he,
choosing rather a most glorious death than a
hateful life, went forward voluntarily to the
torment." — 2 MACH. vi. 18, 19.
246
AugUSt 22
THE HOLY HOUSE OF LORETO
t B. WILLIAM LACY, Pr., 1 582
DRIVEN from York, where he held a high
judicial post, hunted from place to place, penni
less through fines for recusancy, as an aged
widower he was ordained priest at Rome. At
Loreto, on his way to England, he wrote, " I
wish to take my leave of you once more with
this letter, as I do not know whether it may be
the last. We arrived on Tuesday at this holy
house, where my companions and I served the
Lord in his own home, and at the shrine of His
most holy Mother. At this we all experienced
an extraordinary consolation, though indeed we
felt much spiritual joy throughout the journey.
I am particularly charmed with the devotion
and zeal of my companions, and with the holy
communings in which we pass our days. In
deed, it seems to me that I take my part with
them in that sweet harmony. I frequently ex
claim in my heart, ' Is Saul also amongst the
prophets?' and I remind myself of the disciples'
words : ' Was not our hearts burning when He
spoke with us upon the way?'" On being sen
tenced, the aged confessor said, " It is only
paying the common debt a little sooner ; we will
go into the house of the Lord." He suffered at
York, August 22, 1582.
"This is no other but the house of God and
the gate of Heaven." — GEN. xxviii. 17.
247
August 23
THE CROWN OF DIGNITY
Ven. JOHN KEMBLE, Pr., 1679
HE was eighty years old, and had toiled on the
Mission for fifty-four years, when he was taken
at Pembridge Castle, Herefordshire, by Captain
Scudamore. Though warned of his coming
seizure, he said, "As he had but a few years to
live he would gain by suffering for the faith,
and therefore would not abscond. He was com
mitted to Hereford gaol, ordered up to London,
and thence back to Hereford. In this last
journey he suffered terribly from a painful
malady, which necessitated him riding side
ways. In prison he was frequently visited by
Captain Scudamore's children, and he gave
them many good things, their father being, he
said, his best friend. On the scaffold he said,
" It will be expected I should say something ;
but as I am an old man it cannot be much.
Not having any concern in the plot, neither
believing there is any, I die only for the old
Roman Catholic religion, which first made
England Christian, and whosoever would be
saved must die therein. I beg pardon of all
I have offended, and forgive those that have
caused my death." From the local tradition
that he smoked on his long walk to the gallows,
the last pipe of the evening has been called
the " Kemble pipe."
" Old age is a crown of dignity when it is
found in the ways of justice." — PROV. xvi. 31.
248
August 24
A VOLUNTARY OFFERING
Ven. JOHN WALL, O.S.F., 1679
ON hearing his sentence he made a bow, and
said aloud, " Thanks be to God. God save the
King ! I beseech God to bless your Lordship
and all this honourable bench." The judge
answered, " You have spoken very well. I do
not intend that you should die, at least not for
the present, until I know the King's further
pleasure." Father Wall writes : " I was not,
I thank God for it, troubled with any disturbing
thoughts, either against the judge for his sen
tence, or the jury that gave in such a verdict, or
against any of the witnesses ; for I was then of
the same mind, as by God's grace I ever shall
be, esteeming them all the best friends to me,
in all they did or said, that ever I had in my
life. And I was, I thank God, so present with
myself whilst the judge pronounced the sentence
that without any concern for anything in this
world I did actually at the same time offer
myself and the world to God." After five
months' delay he was executed at Worcester,
and was much rejoiced at being, as he was, the
first martyr in that city. He had been arrested
on the Gates Plot after twenty-two years on the
Mission, and was offered his life if he would
apostatise.
"He was offered, because it was His own
will."— ISA. liii. 7.
249
August 25
REPROACHED FOR CHRIST
Ven. CHARLES BAKER, S.J., 1679
BORN of Protestant parents in Monmouthshire,
he was reconciled at the age of nineteen, when a
law student in London. Ordained at the Eng
lish College, Rome, he entered the Society, and
was sent on the English Mission in 1648. For
thirty-one years he toiled for souls, fearless in
dangers, patient in suffering, till his apprehen
sion, November 19, 1678. While in the hands
of his captors he was summoned to a dying priest,
Father Ignatius Price, who was sinking from
hunger and cold and the hardships of a hunted
life, but he could only send him his best wishes
for eternity, and after three days Father Price
died. At Monmouth Father Baker, in spite of
a brilliant defence, was condemned and sent up
to London, where Lord Shaftesbury suggested
to him to save his life and improve his fortune
by revealing something of the plot or conforming
in religion ; but he refused, for of the plot he
knew nothing, and to conform would be against
his conscience. On the scaffold he forgave his
persecutors, and to the Catholics he said : " Fear
God, honour the King. Be firm in your faith ;
bear patiently persecutions, always remember
ing St. Peter's words, that reproach borne not for
any evil thing, but for Christ's sake, is a bless
ing." He suffered at Usk, August 27, 1679.
" If you be reproached for the name of Christ
you shall be blessed : for that which is the
honour of God resteth on you." — I PET. iv. 14.
250
August 26
CHEERFUL IN ADVERSITY
f BISHOP THIRLBY OF ELY, 1570
HE was absent on an Embassy in France on
Elizabeth's accession. On April 2, 1559, he con
cluded the treaty of Cateau Cambresis, and on
his return to England he at once joined the
other Bishops in opposition to the Bill of Royal
Supremacy. He refused the oath and was de
posed July 5, 1559, was committed to the Tower
June 3, 1560, and endured there the miseries of
close and separate confinement until September
1563, when the plague was raging. Elizabeth
was then at Windsor Castle, and there was set
up, Stowe writes, in the market-place of Windsor
a new gallows to hang up all such as came there
from London, so that no person might come from
London upon pain of hanging without judgment.
With this panic at Court the Protestant Bishops
were naturally uneasy at receiving orders to
house the illustrious prisoners from the town.
Thirlby was allotted to Parker, Archbishop of
Canterbury, and wrote to him cheerfully that he
was an unbidden guest, who, according to the
proverb, " wotteth not where to sit," and that he
doubted how to travel without danger because of
the plague. Yet " need maketh the old wife trot."
Dr. Thirlby remained unshaken in Parker's
custody for seven years, when, stricken by grave
illness, he was released by death.
"According to the multitude of the sorrows of
my heart thy comforts have given joy to my
soul." — PS. xciii. 19.
251
August 27
GLORIFYING GOD
f Ven. ROGER CADWALLADOR, Pr., 1610
WHEN he was near his crown he wrote, " Com
fort yourselves, my friends, in this that I die in
an assurance of salvation ; which, if you truly
love me as you ought to do, should please you
better than to have me alive a little while among
you for your content, and then to die with great
uncertainty either to be saved or damned. If
this manner of death be shameful, yet not more
than my Saviour's was : if it be painful, yet not
more than was His. Only have you care to per
severe in God's true faith and charity, and then
we shall meet again to our greater comfort that
shall never end." On the morning of his exe
cution, having spent some five hours in prayer,
he took some broth and claret, to make himself
strong, he said, like Bishop Fisher, to suffer for
God, and dressed himself in a new suit of clothes
as his wedding garment. On the scaffold, asked
to give his opinion as to the oath, he replied that
his opinion mattered little ; they should regard
rather the sentiments of the Church, for his
swearing would neither diminish the Pope's
authority nor increase the King's. His con
stancy under the terrible butchery which at
tended his end confirmed the faith of the
Herefordshire Catholics.
" But let none of you suffer as a murderer or
a thief . . . but if as a Christian let him not be
ashamed, but let him glorify God in His Name."
— i PET. iv. 15, 1 6.
252
August 28
STRIKING THEIR BREASTS
t Ven. EDMUND ARROWSMITH, S.J., 1628
HE was sentenced at Lancaster for being a
priest, a Jesuit, and a persuader of religion,
and the judge ordered that he was to be hung
at noon, when most men would be at dinner ;
but as it fell out the whole place of execution
was covered with great multitudes of people of
all sorts, ages, sexes, and religions, expecting
the end of the tragedy. As he was carried
through the castle yard, Father Southworth,
his fellow-prisoner under reprieve, appeared at
the prison window and received his absolution.
He was then bound on the hurdle, with his
head towards the horse's tail, "for greater
ignominy." Most of his friends were pre
vented to approach him, and the executioner
went before the horse and hurdle with a club
in his hand in a kind of barbarous triumph.
On the scaffold he refused to save his life by
taking the oath, professed that he died for the
Catholic faith, and prayed for the conversion of
England. His last words, as he was cast off
the. ladder, were " Bone Jesu." Divers Pro
testants, beholders of this bloody spectacle,
wished their souls with his. Others wished
they had never come there. Others said it was
a barbarous act to use men so for their religion..
"And all the multitude of them that were
come together to that sight, and saw the things
that were done, returned striking their breasts."
— LUKE xxiii. 48.
253
August 29
MURDER FOR EXAMPLE
t B. RICHARD HERST, 1628
A CONVICTED recusant, he was ploughing his
field when one Dewhurst came to serve him
with a warrant. Herst fled, and Dewhurst,
following in pursuit, received a blow from
Herst's maid, and afterwards in the heat of
the pursuit fell and broke his leg. From that
wound in the leg he died, yet Herst, who had
never been within thirty yards of him, was
charged with his death. Herst's pardon was
offered him if he would take the oath, but he
refused, and he declined also to go to church,
so he was trailed there by his legs and much
hurt. In the church he stopped his ears, not
to hear false doctrine, and, on returning, said,
" They have tortured my body, but, thank God,
they have not hurt my soul." At his trial at
Lancaster, though his innocence of Dewhurst's
death was evident, the judge told the jury that
he was a recusant, had resisted the Bishop's
authority, and that they must find it murder for
an example, which was done. At the gallows
he said to the hangman, who was bungling with
the rope, " Tom, I think I must come and help
you." Then, after repeating the holy names of
Jesus and Mary, he passed to immortality,
Lancaster, August 29.
" Cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which
hath opened her mouth and received the blood
of thy brother at thy hand." — GEN. iv. n, 12.
254
August 30
VISITING THE PRISONER
t Ven. MARGARET WARD, 1588
WILLIAM WATSON, -a secular priest, being
apprehended, through force of torment went
to the Protestant Church once. Struck with
remorse in the midst of the Protestant congre
gation, he repaired the scandal he had there
given by recanting his conformity, and declaring
that theirs was not the service of God, but was
in truth the service of the devil. For this he
was again imprisoned, and was continually plied
with threats and promises to urge him to go
again to church. The Catholics feared for his
constancy, but dared not, for their own safety,
approach him, till a gentlewoman, Margaret
Ward, determined to make the attempt. Dis
guised and carrying a basket of provisions, she
for a month visited the prison, being always
closely searched. At length she managed to
convey him a cord, and with this he effected his
escape ; but in his haste and danger he left the
cord hanging from the window of his prison.
Margaret, being his only visitor, was therefore
apprehended, hung up by the hands, and cruelly
scourged. On her trial she admitted her part
in the prisoner's escape, and rejoiced " in hav
ing delivered an innocent lamb from the hands
of bloody wolves." Offered her pardon if she
would go to church, she refused, and was
executed, showing to the end great constancy,
August 30, Tyburn.
" I was in prison, and you visited me." —
MATT. xxv. 36.
255
August 31
THE TABERNACLE OF KORE
Ven. THOMAS FEI.TON, L., 1588
A MARTYR himself and the son of a martyr, his
father having suffered for putting up St. Pius V's
Bull of excommunication, he was apprehended
as a suspected Papist for the third time, though
but a layman, when only twenty years of age.
Tortured in the " Little Ease," starved, hanged up
by the hands till the blood sprang from his finger
ends, he remained steadfast. Upon a Sunday
he was violently taken by certain officers and
carried betwixt two, fast bound in a chair, into
the chapel at Bridewell to their service. He,
having his hands at first at liberty, stopped his
ears with his fingers that he might not hear
what the minister said. Then they bound down
his hands also to the chair ; but being set down
to the ground, bound in the manner aforesaid,
he stamped with his feet, and made that noise
with his mouth, shouting and hallowing, and cry
ing oftentimes, "Jesus, Jesus," that the minis
ter's voice could not be heard. Asked by the
judge if he acknowledged the Queen's supre
macy, he made answer that " he had read divers
chronicles, but never read that God ordained a
woman should be supreme head of the Church."
For this speech he was condemned, and hung
the next day near Hounslow, Middlesex.
" Depart from the tents of these wicked men,
and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be involved
in their sins." — NUM. xvi. 26.
256
September I
A LIFE OFFERING FOR THE PEOPLE
Yen. JOHN GOODMAN, Pr., 1645
OF Bangor, Wales, and Oxford University, he
became a Protestant minister, but being dis
satisfied with the religion was received into the
Church abroad, and returned as a priest on the
English Mission. His zeal for souls was soon
well known, and in 1635 and again in 1639 he
was apprehended, but each time discharged. In
1640 he was again taken, and tried, and con
demned. Charles I, however, interfered, and
changed the death sentence into that of per
petual banishment, or imprisonment, on the
ground that none had been condemned foi
merely being a priest, nor had Goodman been
before condemned for perverting the people in
their belief. To this message of the King the
Lords and Commons replied by a vehement
remonstrance, urging the sentence of death to
be carried out. Charles made answer that,
being pressed by both Houses, he would leave
the case to their decision, and so washed his
hands of the matter. Goodman, however,
petitioned the King that, since the suspension
of his execution caused such discontent, the
law might take its course. In consequence,
apparently, of this magnanimity, he was allowed
to linger in prison, and died in Newgate 1645.
" And he said, Take me up and cast me into
the sea, and the sea shall be calm to you ; for I
know that for my sake this great tempest is
upon you." — JONAS i. 12.
257 R
September 2
TIME AND ETERNITY
B. THOMAS MORE, L., 1535
WHEN his wife came to see him she reproached
him roundly for preferring to stay among the
rats and mice in a close, filthy prison, when he
might be enjoying his liberty, the goodwill of the
King, and the company of his family in his " right
fair" house at Chelsea. " I muse what a God's
name you mean here still thus fondly to tarry,"
she cried. Sir Thomas said cheerfully, " I pray
thee, good Mistress Alice, tell me one thing : is
not this house as near Heaven as mine own?"
" Tilly vally, tilly vally," quoth she, in her homely
fashion. " Bone Deus, man, will this gear never
be left ? " " Well, then," quoth he, " I see not why
I should much joy in my house, when, if I arose
after being seven years dead, the new owner
would bid me get out of doors, or why should I
like a house so soon forgetful of his master ?
How long do you think we may live and enjoy
it ? " " Some twenty years," said she. " Truly,"
replied he, "if you had said some thousand
years it had been somewhat ; and yet he were a
bad merchant that would risk Eternity for a
thousand years ; how much the rather, if we are
not sure to enjoy it one clay to an end."
"One day with the Lord is as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day." —
2 PET. iii. 8.
258
September 3
HOW LONG, O LORD?
B. ABEL, Pr., TO B. FOREST, O.S.F.
"ALTHOUGH human nature is terrified by the
intensity of tortures, yet our faith demands and
requires us to bear them. I said, ' My foot is
moved because Thou hast turned away Thy face
from me. Thou turnest away Thy face from
me, and I became troubled ; troubled, I say,
because the pain of the tortures which I desire
is prolonged, and at the same time I am
humbled ; humbled, and not raised up, because
not drawn to my Saviour ; not drawn, because
I am burdened with the weight of my sins,
burdened and not refreshed by Him. What,
then, profits my condemnation, if there be
longer to wait ? Wherefore, I ask ? Because
you have not availingly implored the mercy of
God. For I know how much the prayer of the
just man weighs before God. Because with
the Lord there is mercy, and with Him plentiful
redemption. In Thee have our fathers hoped;
they have hoped, and Thou hast delivered them
for the sake of David, Thy servant. Why, then,
is there not an end put to these tortures ? I
have now suffered seven and thirty days, and I
find no rest. But my hope is that we 'shall die
together by the same punishment."
"How long, O Lord, wilt Thou forget me
unto the end?"— Ps. xii. I.
259
September 4
PERSEVERANCE
B. JOHN FOREST TO B. ABEL
"COUNT not your tortures, my son, for that is
to add pain to pain; but rather, as St. Paul
says, 'Reckon the sufferings of this time not
worthy to be compared with the glory to come.'
To which may well be added what the Prophet
says to our Lord : * For a thousand years in
Thy sight are as yesterday which is past.' If
you bear patiently the tortures that are inflicted
on you, doubt not of your reward. O blessed
and thrice happy reward which God gives to
those who fear Him ; hence we pray, ' Lord,
reward Thy servant.' But only on the con
dition, ' I have kept Thy words.' If, therefore,
there is a reward for keeping the words of the
Lord, keep them, my son. But you will ask,
'How long?' To the end! For our Saviour
says, 'He that shall endure unto the end, he
shall be saved.' Therefore, neither the tortures
of thirty-seven days, nor of a thousand years,
but the last end will crown your combat. Think
you, my son, that we shall run together, and
drink of the same chalice ? A greater combat
awaits for me ; but for you lighter sufferings
remain. Whatever they be, act manfully, our
Lord supporting you. Farewell."
"He that shall endure to the end, he shall
be saved." — MARK xiii. 13.
260
September 5
FAITHFUL IN THE END
Bishop BONNER OF LONDON, 1569
HE was a native of Worcestershire, educated at
Broadgates Hall, Oxford, became chaplain to
Henry VIII, was very zealous in promoting the
divorce, and behaved, as he tells us himself,
insolently to the Pope. He accepted the
Bishopric of London from the King, and was
consecrated April 4, 1540, but never received
the necessary Bull from Rome. For refusing
to accept Edward VI's changes in religion he
was deposed and imprisoned. He was set free
by Mary, and canonically reinstated. Under
Elizabeth he was the first to whom the oath
was proffered, and had the honour of being the
first to refuse it. He was specially detested by
the Protestants on account of his supposed
severity to heretics, but Mr. Gairdner expressly
states that to the prisoners in his hands he was
kind, gentle, and considerate, and always strove
by gentle suasion to reconcile them to the
Church before handing them over to the civil
power. When ordered by the Council to re
move the service of the Mass and the Divine
office from St. Paul's, the one church where
the Catholic rites still existed, he replied, " I
possess three things — soul, body, and property.
Of the two last you can dispose at your pleasure."
" Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation,
and strengthen me with a perfect spirit." — Ps.
1. 14.
261
September 6
AN EASTER OFFERING
Ven. EDWARD BARLOW, O.S.B., 1641
HE was beginning to recover from his illness,
but was still very weak, when he was appre
hended on Easter Day 1641. A neighbouring
minister proposed to his congregation that, in
stead of their service, they should show their
zeal by capturing the noted popish priest, whom
they would surely now find in the midst of his
flock, but would lose when church time was over.
Some four hundred went therefore with clubs
and swords, the parson marching at their head
in his surplice. Father Barlow had finished
Mass, and was making a discourse to his people
on the subject of patience, when the house was
found to be surrounded by armed men. He
refused to hide himself in any of the secret
places provided in the house for that purpose,
or leave his sheep, as he said, to the mercy of
the wolves. He exhorted them to constancy, and
reminded them that these light and momentary
tribulations worked an eternal weight of glory,
and telling them that he was ready to offer all
things for Christ, he bid them open the door.
The mob rushed in, shouting, "Where is Barlow?
he is the man we want," and laying hands on
him they secured him and let the rest go, upon
giving caution for their appearance. He suf
fered at Lancaster, September 10, 1641.
" For Christ our Pasch is sacrificed." — I COR.
v. 7.
262
September 7
THE CONTEMPLATIVE WAY
f B. JOHN DUCKETT, Pr., 1644
OF an old Yorkshire family, he entered Douay
and was so much addicted, the Diary says, to
mental prayer, that while he was yet a student
he was known to pass whole nights in those
heavenly communications. Being both humble
anddiscreet, before going on the English Mission
he conferred at Paris with some very spiritual
persons on his way of prayer, of which they
approved, though what passed between his soul
and God was so sublime that they owned it
was above their comprehensions. For further
security against delusions, to which contempla-
tives are often exposed, he placed himself under
the direction of the Prior of the Carthusians at
Newport, and spent two months in preparing
himself by spiritual exercises for the conversion
of souls. His mission was in the diocese of
Durham, where he had been about a year when
he was arrested, tried, and condemned. On hear
ing his sentence his countenance, which was
naturally pale, became in a manner angelical,
and his cheeks a beautiful colour, which con
tinued till death. That this expression of out
ward joy proceeded from his heart, we learn
from his letters. " Ever since I was a priest,"
he writes, " I did much fear to live, but nothing
fear to die."
" This is my rest for ever and ever ; here will
I dwell, for I have chosen it." — Ps. cxxxi. 14.
263
September 8
HOLY RIVALRY
Yen. RALPH CORBY, S.J., and Yen. JOHN
DUCKETT, Pr., 1644
RALPH CORBY, alias Darlington, was born near
Dublin of English parents, natives of Durham,
who had gone over to Ireland for the free exer
cise of their religion. The piety of the family
is sufficiently attested by the fact that both
parents and children entered into religion : the
father and his three sons into the Society of
Jesus, the mother and her daughters into the
Order of St. Benedict. After twelve years' hard
work, notwithstanding continuous ill-health,
among the poorer Catholics in Durham, he was
arrested and sent up to London with Father
Duckett. They were escorted from West
minster to Newgate by a company of Parlia
ment soldiers, with a captain at their head,
beating drums and firing off their muskets
•through the crowded streets, as if they had
been the enemy's generals taken in war as in
the old Roman battles. In prison the life of
one of them could have been saved by an ex
change made for a prisoner in the hand of the
Emperor of Germany. The offer was first made
to Father Corby, who declined it on the ground
that Father Duckett, being younger, could do
more work than himself ; but he in his turn re
fused it with thanks, as Father Corby's life, on
account of his experience, was of greater value.
" Behold what manner of charity the Father
hath bestowed upon us." — i JOHN iii. i.
264
September 9
THE KISS OF PEACE
VV. CORBY, S.J., DUCKETT, Pr., 1644
HAVING each refused to be spared at the cost
of the other's life, they were sentenced to death,
and returned with joy to prison, there to wait. V.
Corby wrote : " For that holy and happy Saturday
(September 7), which is the vigil of her glorious
Nativity, by whose holy intercession I hope to
be born again to a new and everlasting life."
Their last day and the whole ensuing night was
spent in prayer, fasting, watching, and in spiritual
conferences with those who came to confess and
to hear their last Mass. Amongst these were
the Duchess of Guise and the French envoy.
Father Corby in his last Mass appeared to be
overwhelmed with an agony of sadness and
fear. At length the cloud passed, and his joy
returned. They went out to suffer with their
tonsures shaved, the one in his Jesuit's habit,
the other in his priest's cassock. At the gallows
Father Duckett made no speech, but told an
heretical minister that he had not come hither
to be taught his religion, but to die for it.
After a short discourse from Father Corby, the
two confessors turned to each other. Together
they had been arrested, supported each other
by their mutual courage and self-sacrifice, and
with a last most loving embrace they together
received their eternal crown.
" Salute one another in a holy kiss ; all the
saints salute you." — 2 COR. xiii. 12.
265
September 10
PRESSED OUT OF MEASURE
Bishop BOURNE OF BATH AND WELLS, 1569
HE held, besides his sees at Elizabeth's acces
sion, the important secular office of President of
the Council of Wales. From this he was re
moved by the Queen in furtherance of her plan
of depriving all Catholics of positions of trust.
On his refusal to consecrate Parker, and again
to take the oath of Supremacy, he was sent to
the Tower, June 18, 1560. There he remained
till the plague broke out in 1563, when he was
quartered on Nicolas Bullingham, Bishop in
trusive of Lincoln. He died in charge of Dr.
Carew, Dean of Exeter, who at Elizabeth's
coronation had sung the Mass without elevating
either the Sacred Host or chalice. Bishops in
charge of these Protestant dignitaries were to
be kept in safe custody, to have their diet alone
in their chamber, and that in no superfluity.
They -were to see only their attendant, never to
take the air save accompanied with his cus
todian. They were to have sound books lent
to them, and be persuaded to hear sermons, and
attend the Protestant services. Thus deprived
of Mass, the Sacrament, Catholic books, or the
sight of a Catholic, wearied by heretical argu
ments, and worn by the continual pressure of
their heretical keepers, the confessors bore
witness till death.
"We would not have you ignorant, brethren,
of our tribulation. We were pressed out of
measure, so that we were weary even of life." —
2 COR. i. 8.
266
September 1 1
HEREDITARY CHAMPION OF
ENGLAND
ROBERT DYMOKE, L., 1580
SCRIVELSBY COURT, Lincolnshire, the home of
the Dymokes, was one of the centres of the
Rising in that county. The "articles of griev
ance " devised by the insurgents were drawn up
by the Dymokes. Robert had so far conformed
as to a'ttend the Protestant service, while he
harboured a priest, B. Kirkman, in his house
disguised as a schoolmaster to his sons. This
act of hospitality, with the risks it involved,
seems to have procured for him the grace of
complete conversion. On July 24, 1580, Robert
and his wife, Lady Bridget, were indicted for
hearing Mass and for non-attendance at the Pro
testant service. Though helplessly paralysed,
he was carried to Lincoln, and in a miserable
prison there fell dangerously ill. Even when
dying he was not left in peace. " They come,"
writes Father Persons, " when he is wrestling
with the pangs of death. Even then the
ministers do not permit him to die, as he desires,
a Catholic death. They urge him to pray such
sorry prayers of their own making as in health
he contemned, in sickness with open voice he
rejected, and now dumb and half dead, by his
countenance, by signs and tokens, and by gesture
of his body, he did utterly contemn and abhor."
" Who by faith conquered kingdoms, wrought
justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths
of lions." — HEB. xi. 33.
267
September 12
A MARTYR'S MAXIMS (i)
B. ADRIAN FORTESCUE, L.
ABOVE all things love God with all thy heart.
Desire His honour more than the health of
thine own soul.
Take heed with all diligence to purge and
cleanse thy mind with oft Confession, and raise
thy desire or lust from earthly things.
Be you houseled (Holy Communion) with
entire devotion.
Repute not thyself better than any other
person, be they never so great sinners, but
rather judge and esteem yourself most simplest.
Judge the best.
Use much silence, but when thou needs must
speak.
Delight not in familiarity of persons unknown
to thee.
Be solitary as much as is convenient with
thine estate.
Banish from thee all judging and detraction,
and especially from thy tongue.
Pray often.
Also enforce thee to set thy house at quietness.
Resort to God every hour.
Advance not thy words or deeds by any pride.
Be not too much familiar, but show a serious
and prudent countenance with gentleness.
Show before all people a good example of
virtues.
"The Wisdom from above is first chaste. "-
JAS. iii. 17.
268
September 13
A MARTYR'S MAXIMS (2)
B. ADRIAN FORTESCUE, L.
BE not partial for favour, lucre, or malice, but
according to truth, equity, justice, and reason.
Be pitiful to poor folk and help them to thy
power, for then thou shalt greatly please God.
Give fair language to all persons, and espe
cially to the poor and needy.
Also be diligent in giving of alms.
In prosperity be meek of heart, and in adver
sity patient.
And pray continually to God that you may
do what is His pleasure.
Also apply diligently the co-operations of the
Holy Ghost whatever thou hast therein to do.
Pray for perseverance.
Continue in dread, and ever have God before
thine eyes.
Renew every day thy good purpose.
What thou hast to do, do it diligently.
'Stablish thyself always in well-doing.
If by chance you fall into sin, despair not,
and if you keep these precepts, the Holy Ghost
will strengthen thee in all other things neces
sary, and thus doing you shall be with Christ
in Heaven, to whom be glory, laud, honour, and
praise everlasting.
" She conducted the just through the right
ways and showed him the kingdom of God,
and gave him the knowledge of holy things." —
WlS. x. 10.
269
September 14
SEPARATED UNTO THE GOSPEL
Yen. EDWARD BARLOW, O.S.B., 1641
HE began his labours in his native county
Lancashire, aged thirty, about 1615. There he
boarded with an honest country farmer, which
he preferred to living with great families, though
desired by many, that the poor might always
have access to him night or day. To them he
devoted his labours and imparted alms, spiritual
and temporal, according to his ability. He would
never have a servant till forced by sickness ;
never would have a horse, but made his pastoral
visits always on foot. His apparel was mean ;
neither would he ever wear a sword or carry a
watch. He allowed himself no manner of play
or pastime, and avoided all superfluous talk or
conversation. He was never idle, but was
always either praying, studying, preaching, ad
ministering the Sacraments, or sometimes as
a diversion painting pictures of Christ or His
Blessed Mother, whose beads he recited daily.
He set free many possessed persons ; he had
great talent in composing differences and re
conciling those at variance, and was consulted
as an oracle by the neighbouring Catholics in
all their difficulties. He feared no dangers, and
when God's honour or the salvation of souls
called him forth, would face his enemies even
at noonday, and pass through them unhurt.
" Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be
an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God."
— ROM. i. i.
270
September 15
THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH
Yen. EDWARD BARLOW, O.S.B., 1641
ON the eves before the principal festivals of the
year, whilst Father Barlow was in health, the
Catholics resorted to him from distant places
and passed the night, after the manner of the
primitive Church, in watching, prayer, and
spiritual colloquies, whilst, for his part, he was
employed almost all the night hearing confes
sions. On the next day he treated them all with
a dinner, when he and some of the more honour
able of his flock served them that were poor, and
waited upon them, and then dined off their
leavings. When he sent them home he gave
each of them a groat in alms, and when all had
dined he distributed what remained to the poor
of the parish. His zeal had made him as well
known in all that neighbourhood as the very
parson of the parish. Some reprehended him
forgoing about so publicly ; to whom he replied,
" Let them fear that have anything to lose, which
they are unwilling to part with." This was in
deed not his case, as he had set his heart upon
nothing in this world, and was even desirous to
lay down his life for God's cause. Nor could he
be persuaded to retire further from danger, de
siring, were it God's will, to shed his blood at
Lancaster.
" And the multitude of believers had but one
heart and one soul ... all things were common
unto them." — ACTS iv. 32.
271
September 1 6
HORROR OF SCANDAL
Ven. EDWARD BARLOW, O.S.B., 1641
SOME months before his last apprehension, for
he was several times a prisoner, he heard that
some persons, dear to him as his own soul, were
bent upon doing something very wicked, and
which was like to be the ruin of many souls.
The news of this scandal so strongly on a sudden
affected him that he was seized with a fit of dead
palsy, which deprived him of the use of one side
and put his life in danger. What added very
much to his cross was the fear lest his poor
children whom he had begotten in Christ should
now be left destitute of spiritual assistance.
Moreover, he had the additional affliction that,
while his convulsions and pains seemed to have
brought him to death's door, no priest could be
found to administer the Holy Sacraments to him.
In this anguish God was pleased to comfort him,
and he made an act of complete conformity to
God's will, preferring that entire resignation to
the use of the Sacraments or to martyrdom itself.
While in these dispositions a Jesuit father
arrived to assist him, as he himself had twelve
years before exercised the same charity to B.
Arrowsmith when in prison, at which time that
confessor of Christ had foretold that he must be
the next to follow.
"Who is weak and I am not weak? who is
scandalised and I am not on fire?" — 2 COR.xi.29.
272
September 1 7
ROMANS THE ONLY PRIESTS
Yen. EDWARD BARLOW, O.S.B., 1641
HE was led to Lancaster gaol amidst a jeering
mob, but was so weak that he had to be held on
the horse's back. In prison he wonderfully re
covered his health, and refused every offer of
escape or of petitions for his life. At his trial,
after four months' imprisonment, the judge asked
him what he thought of the laws by which priests
were put to death. " All laws," he answered,
" made against Catholics on account of their
religion are unjust and impious, and that especi
ally which condemns priests to suffer as traitors
merely because they are Roman — that is, true
priests. For there are no other priests but the
Roman, and if they be destroyed, what must
become of the Divine law when none remain
to preach God's law and administer the Sacra
ments ? And if, my Lord, in consequence of so
unjust a law, you condemn me to die, you would
send me to Heaven and yourself to Hell." He
was sentenced, and brought out to suffer on
Friday, September 10, carrying a wooden cross
which he had made. He told the ministers who
pestered him that he had something else to do
than to hearken to their fooleries, and saying
the Miserere he went to Heaven, September 10,
1641.
" But I chose Jerusalem that my name might
be there, and I chose David to set him over my
people." — 2 PARAL. vi. 6.
273 s
September 18
STRONGER THAN DEATH
Ven. RICHARD HERST, L., 1628
HE wrote before his death three letters to his
confessor. The first is as follows : " I received
your letter with news of death, at which I am
not much dismayed, I thank my Lord and
Saviour ; the more malicious my enemies the
greater my comfort, for I do constantly believe
that my religion is the cause of their malice,
and my greatest desire is to offer my blood in
so good a cause. And although my flesh be
timorous and fearful, I yet find great comfort in
spirit, in casting myself upon my sweet Saviour
with a most fervent love, when I consider what
He hath done and suffered for me ; and I had
rather die a thousand deaths than possess a
kingdom and live in mortal sin ; for there is
nothing so hateful to me as sin, and that only
for the love of my Saviour. I do most con
stantly believe that He hath afflicted me to save
me, and I trust I shall die truly humbled, for
the which I desire your good prayers, that I
may persevere to the end ; for of myself I can
do nothing without His grace." He left behind
him six little children, and his wife with child.
" Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou know-
est that I love Thee."— JOHN xxi. 17.
274
September 19
PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD
Ven. RICHARD HERST, L., 1628
THIS is his last letter to his confessor when
about to suffer : " Now I take my last leave ;
now I am dying, and am as willing to die as
ever I was to live, I thank my Lord and Saviour,
who I trust will never fail me. I have comfort
in Christ Jesus and His Blessed Mother, my
good angel, and all the blessed Saints, and in
the valiant and triumphant martyr, B. Arrow-
smith, who is gone before me. How I have been
used you will hear, and likewise what I had
offered me if I would have taken the oath. I
hope my friends will truly understand that my
greatest desire is to suffer, and I would I had
as many lives to offer as I have committed sins.
Now, dear Sir, prepare yourself also to suffer,
and animate your ghostly children in suffering.
Once again, I desire you to say and to procure
some Masses for my sinful soul, and if it please
God to receive me into His kingdom, I shall not
be unmindful of you and of all my good friends.
I pray you remember my poor children, and
encourage my friends about my debts which my
chief worldly care is to satisfy. Once again,
adieu. I desire to be dissolved, and to be with
Christ Jesus."
"He sent twelve thousand drachms of silver
for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead,
thinking well and religiously concerning the
Resurrection." — 2 MACH. xii. 43.
275
September 20
TO SAVE OTHERS
Ven. JOHN DUCKETT, Pr., 1644
HE was taken, in company with two Catholic
laymen, as he was going to baptize two children
on the Feast of the Visitation, July 2. His
captors, the Parliament soldiers, carried him
before a committee of the Sequestrators at
Sunderland. He declined to answer as to his
priesthood and demanded proof, but was com
mitted to prison by reason of the Holy oils and
books found on him. Again examined, and
again refusing to inculpate himself, he was
threatened with lighted matches placed between
his fingers to make him confess what he was.
This availing nothing he was sent back to
prison. After an hour he was again called, and
found his two companions on the point of being
shipped and sent away, merely because he
would not confess who he was. " Seeing this,"
he says, " and also fearing that the Catholics of
the neighbourhood who knew me might suffer,
and especially those with whom I lived, I con
fessed myself to free them and the country."
His self-sacrifice was successful, and seemed an
inspiration from Heaven. No more inquiry was
made after his friends, but Father Duckett was
sent up to London in company with Father
Corby, a Jesuit, who was taken in these parts as
he was going up to the altar to say Mass.
"If therefore ye seek Me, let these go their
way."— JOHN xviii. 8.
276
September 21
A HOLY YOUTH
Yen. EDMUND ARROWSMITH, S.J., 1628
His family were great sufferers for the faith.
His maternal grandfather, Mr. Nicholas Gerard,
being unable to move with the gout, was carried
to the Protestant Church and placed close to
the minister, but he sang Psalms in Latin so
loud that the minister was inaudible, and he
had to be removed. His parents and their
household were driven, tied two and two, to Lan
caster gaol, the four youngest children, of which
Edmund was one, being left homeless and un
clad until some charitable neighbours took com
passion on them. After some years, to ease
his now widowed mother of her burden, a
venerable priest took charge of Edmund. As
the boy went to school, about a mile distant,
his daily practice was to recite with his com
panions the little hours of Our Lady's
Office, and on his way back the Vespers and
Compline. After his return home he would
withdraw to his oratory and there perform his
customary devotions of the Jesus Psalter, the
Seven Psalms, &c., and so engaging were his
temper and manners that he won the affection
of even the Protestant schoolmaster. His
priestly studies, though often interrupted by his
bad health, were completed at Douay, whence
he went on the English Mission, 1613.
" When he was yet a boy he began to seek
the God of his father David." — 2 PARAL. xxxiv-3.
277
September 22
LOWLY BUT BOLD
Ven. EDMUND ARROWSMITH, S.J., 1628
HE is described as being, like St. Paul, of mean
presence, but of great innocency of life, and so
zealous, witty, and fervent that his eagerness
to dispute with heretics, had he not been re
strained, would have brought him too soon
into danger of death. A Protestant gentleman,
thinking from his appearance he might be
easily befooled, tried to jest upon him, but his
retorts were so sharp that the gentleman swore
that where he thought he had met a mere
simpleton he had found a foolish scholar or a
learned fool. He had such great power in free
ing possessed persons, during his fifteen years
of priestly labour, first as a secular then as a
Jesuit, that at his last trial the judge pleaded
for his death as too dangerous a seducer to
be set at liberty. Dr. Bridgman, Bishop of
Chester, before whom he was once brought at
supper-time in Lent, excused himself for eating
flesh, as being dispensed on account of weak
ness. " But who dispenses your lusty ministers
there, who have no such need, and all eat
flesh?" As divers ministers together attacked
him, he said to the Bishop, " Turn all your dogs
at once against me, and let us have a loose
bait."
" Now I, Paul, beseech you by the mildness
and modesty of Christ, who in presence indeed
am lowly among you but being absent am bold
towards you." — 2 COR. x. i.
278
September 23
THE NARROW WAY
Yen. JOHN WALL, O.S.F., 1679
BORN of a Lancashire gentleman's family, he
received the habit of St. Francis at Douay in
1651, being then thirty-two years of age. He
entered on the English Mission, 1656, and
laboured successfully for twelve years. At the
breaking out of the Gates Plot he was appre
hended, and, refusing to take the oath of
allegiance, was imprisoned in Worcester gaol.
Of his sentiments then he writes: "Imprison
ment in these times, when none can send to
their friends or their friends come to them, is
the best means to teach us how to put our con
fidence in God alone in all things, and then
He will make His promise good 'that all
things shall be added unto us' (Luke xii. 31),
which chapter, if every one would read and
made good use of, a prison would be better
than a palace, and a confinement for religion
and a good conscience' sake more pleasant
than all the liberties the world could afford. As
for my own part, God give me His grace and
all faithful Christians their prayers ; I am
happy enough. We all ought to follow the
narrow way, though there be many difficulties
in it. It is an easy thing to run the blind way
of liberty, but God deliver us from all broad,
sweet ways."
" How narrow is the gate and straight the
way that leadeth to life, and few there are that
find it." — MATT. vii. 14.
279
September 24
A MARTYR'S LEGACIES
B. EVERARD HANSE, Pr., 1581
" BROTHER, I pray you be careful of my parents,
see them instructed in the way of truth, so that
you be careful for your own state also. Give
thanks to God for all that He hath sent. Cast
not yourself into danger wilfully, but pray God,
when occasion is offered, to take it with patience.
The comforts at the present time are unspeak
able, the dignity too high for a sinner, but God
is merciful. Bestow my things you find ungiven
away on my poor kinsfolk. A pair of pantoffles
I leave with M. N. for my mother. Twenty
shillings I would have you bestow on them for
me, if you can make so much conveniently ;
some I have left with M. N. I owe ten shillings
and two shillings. I pray you see it paid.
M. N. will let you understand how and to whom.
If you want money to discharge it, send to my
friends, you know where and to whom. * Summa
Conciliorum,' I pray you restore to M. B. : the
other books, you know to whom. Have me
commended to my friends. Let them think I
will not forget them. The day and the hour of
my birth is at hand, and my Master saith,
'Tolle crucem tuam et sequere Me.' Vale in
Domino."
" Well done, thou good and faith fifl servant, be
cause thou hast been faithful over a few things,
I will place thee over many things. Enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord." — MATT. xxv. 23.
280
September 25
A REPROVER OF SIN
Ven. OLIVER PLUNKET, Archbishop, on the
Scaffold, 1 68 1
" I WAS brought to the bar here after six months'
imprisonment for a crime for which before I was
arraigned in Ireland; a fact almost without
precedent in five hundred years. Five weeks
were allowed me to bring over my records and
witnesses, which, owing to many difficulties,
was insufficient. I asked for five days more.
This was refused, and I was exposed, with my
hands tied, as it were, to these merciless per
jurers. You see what position I am in, and
you have heard the protestations of my inno-
cency, and I hope you will believe the words
of a dying man. In support of my credit I
assure you that I was offered my life if I would
accuse other conspirators, but as I know of none
I could not. I admit that I endeavoured to
establish a proper discipline among the clergy
according to my duty, and you see how I am
rewarded. By false oaths they have brought
me to this untimely death. But this wicked
act, being a defect of person, ought not to reflect
on the Order of St. Francis or on the Roman
Catholic clergy. There was a Judas among the
Apostles, and a Nicholas among the seven
deacons, and as St. Stephen, the holy deacon,
prayed for his enemies, so do I." And so he
went to his reward.
" Them that sin reprove before all, that the
rest may have fear." — i TIM. iv. 20.
281
September 26
A FAIR TRIAL
Ven. OLIVER PLUNKET, Archbishop, 1681
AFTER his condemnation, he wrote to Father
Corker, his fellow-prisoner, as follows : " I am
obliged to you for the favour and charity of the
zoth, and for all your former benevolences ; and
whereas I cannot in this country remunerate
you., with God's grace I hope to be grateful in
that kingdom which is properly our country.
And truly God gave me, though unworthy of
it, that grace to have * fortem animum mortis
terrore carentem,' 'a courage fearless of death.'
I have many sins to answer for before the
Supreme Judge of the High Bench, where no
false witnesses can have audience. But as for
the bench yesterday, I am not guilty of any
crime there objected to me. I would I could be
so clear at the bench of the All-powerful. ' Ut
ut sit,' there is one comfort that He cannot be
deceived, because He is omniscious, and knows
all secrets, even of hearts, and cannot deceive
because all goodness, so that I may be sure of
a fair trial, and will get time sufficient to call
witnesses ; nay, the Judge will bring them in
a moment if there be need of any. You and
your comrade's prayers will be powerful ad
vocates at that trial. Here none are admitted
for your affectionate friend,
"OLIVER PLUNKET."
" But there is no other God but Thou who
hast care of all, that Thou shouldst show that
Thou dost not give judgment unjustly." —
WlS. xii. 13.
282
September 27
A PEACEMAKER
t Bishop WATSON, OF LINCOLN, 1584
A BRILLIANT scholar, master of St. John's
College, Cambridge, he took the oath of Supre
macy under Henry VIII, but maintained in all
other points the Catholic faith, and for preach
ing in its defence was imprisoned for a time by
the Protector Somerset, together with Bishop
Goodman, whose chaplain he was. By order
of Mary he preached before her at Paul's
Cross, and refuted the contradictions of the
new teaching. Promoted Dean of Durham and
Bishop of Lincoln, he was imprisoned by Eliza
beth for contempt and contumacy, and began
a long course of suffering either in public or
private custody. He writes to Cecil, October 6,
1578, that two infirmities drove him to crave for
succour — blindness and lameness. He had lost
one of his eyes, and the other was so weak he
could scarce see the meat on the table. His
lameness was due to sciatica in both his thighs.
His last confinement was at Wisbeach, where
he used all his influence, in the strife then
prevailing, to promote peace and charity, and
with great success. He died September 27,
1584, having proved by twenty years of bonds
his repentance for his early fall.
" I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same
thing, and that there be no schisms among you."
— i COR. i. 10.
283
September 28
PETITION FOR RE-ADMISSION
Ven. JOHN WOODCOCK, O.S.F., 1646
"THE more conscious I am that it is better to
be poor in the House of the Lord than to abide
in the tabernacles of sinners, so much the more
the conviction of my soul still unaccomplished
grows stronger in the day and night, and the
former direction of my conscience, disturbed in
spite of myself from its original seat and form,
incessantly solicits and urges me on ; so that
the desire for its reformation, no less than that
sudden fall " (he had withdrawn as a postulant)
" which threw both it and my whole being into
confusion, inflames my soul. Wherefore, my
dear Father William, I beseech you by our old
friendship, which in this misfortune intercedes
for me with- you, to take pity on my miserable
state, and apply yourself to obtain my pardon
and the favour of my restoration. This is my
desire, this I ask, this I wait for, for this I sigh
and groan, and I desire it for no other motive
than the pure love of God and His glory.
That which you saw me previously desire
lightly, strive now for Christ's sake to obtain
for me more efficaciously. This will be my
greatest happiness, and nothing whatever can
add thereto. Farewell."
"The prayer of him that humbleth himself
shall pierce the clouds." — ECCLUS. xxxv. 21.
284
September 29
LOVE OF PARENTS
t Ven. WILLIAM SPENSER, Pr., 1589
BORN in the Craven district of York, he was
educated by his maternal uncle, Horn, a Marian
priest, at his benefice near Chipping Norton.
He then entered Trinity College, Oxford, and
became Fellow and Master of Arts in 1580.
There, though outwardly conforming, he showed
such zeal for the faith as to embitter the heretics
and to win many youths by his instructions in
Catholic doctrine. After two years thus living
with a troubled conscience, he sought peace by
leaving Oxford for Rheims, and in 1584 returned
as a priest to England. His first care was the
conversion of his parents, whom he contrived
after much difficulty to meet in a field disguised
as a labourer, with the result that they were
both reconciled. His uncle also by his influ
ence resigned his benefice, which he had only
held by tampering with heresy, and found a
home in a Catholic household. He now devoted
himself to the Catholic prisoners at York, and
managed to secure a hiding-place with them in
the Castle. After labouring with much fruit, he
was arrested when on a journey and suffered
with great constancy at York, September 27,
1589, thus washing out with his blood the
heretical stains of his youth.
" Honour thy father and forget not the groan-
ings of thy mother, and make a return to them as
they have done for thee." — ECCLUS. vii. 29, 30.
285
September 30
LITTLE BELLS OF GOLD
B. ROGER CADWALLADOR, Pr., 1610
As they had failed in their arguments, they
turned to scoffing, and mocked him for having
no tonsure, wearing a beard, and dressing as a
layman with a silk point to his hose. Then, as
he refused the oath of allegiance, the Bishop
commanded him to be heavily shackled, and to
wear besides a great bolt. This, by reason of
his sickness, was removed, but he was sent on
foot from Hereford to Leominster, still wearing
his shackles, though, owing to his extreme
weakness, a boy was allowed to accompany
him holding up their links by a string. After
his condemnation to death, for some months
before his martyrdom he was chained every
night to his bed-post by an iron chain. One
day the keeper led him to an obscure and
loathsome place, and left him there chained to
a post, unable to move more than two yards ;
at last the keeper's wife, moved with compas
sion, in her husband's absence let him loose.
In his sickness in prison he was subject to
ill-usage and slanders, yet nothing daunted his
courage or cheerfulness, and to a friend he said,
shaking his shackles as he lay prostrate, "Hear,
O Lord ! these are my little bells."
" He clothed him with a robe of glory, and
encompassed him with many little bells of gold,
that a noise might be heard in the temple for
a memorial to the children of his people." —
ECCLUS. xlv. 9, 10, ii.
286
October i
A TRUE ISRAELITE
t Ven. JOHN ROBINSON, Pr., 1588
BORN at Fernsby, Yorkshire, he lived for some
time in the world in the married state, but on
becoming a widower he went over to Rheims,
was ordained, and sent on the Mission. He
was a man of great simplicity and sincerity,
and he used to say that " if he could not dis
pute for the faith as well as some of the others,
he could die for it as well as the best." He
was apprehended in the very port where he
landed, and cast into the Clink prison. His
fellow-prisoners, in respect to his age and pro
bity, called him "Father," and he in return
styled them his "bairns," and when they were
sent off to be executed in different parts of the
Kingdom, the good old man lamented for days
exceedingly, until at last the warrant for his own
execution arrived. To the bearer of the war
rant he gave all his money, and on his knees
gave God thanks. He was sent to suffer at
Ipswich, a long journey taken on foot, but he
refused to put on boots, as he said, " These feet
of mine have never worn them, and they can
well travel now without them, for they will be
well repaid." He was executed October I,
1588.
" Behold a true Israelite, in whom there is no
guile."— JOHN i. 47.
287
October 2
THE UNITY OF CHRISTENDOM
B. THOMAS MORE, L., 1535
" SINCE I am condemned, and God knows how,
I wish to speak freely of your statute for the
discharge of my conscience. For the seven
years that I have studied the matter, I have
not read in any approved doctor of the Church
that a temporal lord could or ought to be head
of the spirituality. For one bishop of your
opinion, I have a hundred saints of mine ; and
for one Parliament of yours, and God knows of
what kind, I have all the General Councils for
1000 years ; and for one kingdom, I have all
the kingdoms of Christendom. I say further,
that your statute is ill made, because you have
sworn never to do anything against the Church,
which through all Christendom is one and un
divided, and you have no authority, without the
common consent of all Christians, to make a
law or Act of Parliament or Council against
the union of Christendom. The true reason
for my condemnation is my unwillingness to
consent to the King's second marriage ; but I
hope, in the Divine goodness and mercy, that
as St. Paul and St. Stephen, whom he perse
cuted, are now friends in Paradise, so we,
though differing here, shall be united hereafter.
I pray God to protect the King and to give
him good counsel."
" Every kingdom divided against itself shall
be made desolate, and every city or house divided
against itself shall not stand."— MATT. xii. 25.
October 3
AN ADVOCATE OF CHRIST
Yen. PHILIP POWEL, O.S.B., 1646
OF a good Welsh family, he was trained for fhe
law in London under Father Augustine Baker,
then a famous lawyer in the Temple, who be
came a Benedictine monk. Powel followed his
example and entered the same order, and in
1622 was sent on the English Mission. He
laboured for some twenty years in Devon, till
this county was so overrun with Parliament
soldiers that the only safe place for Catholics
was with Goring's army, and Powel accom
panied it till the force was disbanded. He
was arrested when on a vessel bound for Wales.
In his defence at King's Bench he pleaded that
Henry VIII made a statute of qualification of all
statutes, and that the reason of Queen Eliza
beth's statute against priests was her fears and
jealousies of the Queen of Scots and the Span
iards, with both of whom priests were believed
to have relations. This was, however, a time
of civil war, when the King's person was absent,
and could not, therefore, be the object of a plot.
Hence, both the person and the cause being
taken away, this latter statute might receive the
benefit of mitigation. He added that he was
not guilty according to the letter of Elizabeth's
statute, being taken not in England but at sea.
He was, however, hanged, Tyburn, June 30.
"And all that heard Him were astonished at
His wisdom and answers." — LUKE ii. 47.
289 T
October 4
THE FINAL JUDGMENT '
B. EDMUND CAMPION, S.J., 1581
" IT was not our death that ever we feared, but
we knew that we were not lords of our own
lives, and therefore, for want of answer, would
not be guilty of our own deaths. The only
thing that we have now to say is, that if our
religion do make us traitors, we are worthy to
be condemned, but otherwise are and have
been as true subjects as ever the Queen had.
In condemning us you condemn all your own
ancestors — all the ancient priests, bishops, and
kings — all what was once the glory of England,
the island of Saints, and the most devoted child
of the See of Peter. For what have we taught,
however you may qualify it with the odious
name of treason, that they did not uniformly
teach ? To be condemned with these old lights
— not of England only, but of the world — by
their degenerate descendants is both gladness
and glory to us. God lives : posterity will live :
their judgment is not so liable to corruption as
that of those who are now going to sentence us
to death." "Never," says Fitzherbert, "was
Campion's face more noble ; his conduct had
been calm and dignified, and his arguments
pointed and conclusive ; but in this last speech
he surpassed himself."
"And after this the judgment." — HEB. ix. 37.
290
October 5
A MOTHER'S SACRIFICE
Ven. WILLIAM HARTLEY, Pr., 1588
BORN in the diocese of Lichfield and brought
up a Protestant, he became Chaplain and Fellow
of St. John's College, Oxford, but was removed
from that part by Tobie Matthew, the president,
on suspicion of his Catholic tendencies. He
then went to Rheims, was reconciled, ordained,
and returned to the English Mission in 1580.
Within a twelvemonth of his arrival he was
arrested, in the house of Lady Stonor, and im
prisoned in the Tower. In 1585, after five
years' imprisonment, he, with some twenty other
priests, was sent into banishment, but his zeal
for souls drove him back to England, though he
knew death awaited him. He laboured again
amidst good report and evil report, the heretics
having pretended that he had apostatised, and
he converted, amongst others, a Captain Cripps,
a well-known personage at that time, who sub
sequently entered the service of the King of
Spain. Father Hartley was carried to execution
with John Hewitt, who was hanged at Mile's
End Green, with Robert Sutton, who suffered at
Clerkenwell, and was himself finally executed
at Shoreditch, having refused to ask for the
Queen's forgiveness, since his priesthood had
been his only offence. His mother was present
at his passion, and rejoiced exceedingly that she
had brought forth a son to glorify God by such
a death.
"There stood by the cross of Jesus His
mother." — JOHN xix. 25.
291
October 6
THE CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION
GEORGE GILBERT, S.J., 1583
OF an old Suffolk family, possessed of a large
fortune, a Puritan by profession, he followed
in his youth the life of a gay cavalier. Going
abroad, however, his eyes were opened to the
faith, and he was reconciled by Father Parsons
at Rome. Returning to England, he devoted
himself to the services of the missionary priests,
and formed for this purpose, with Lord Henry
Howard, Lord Oxford, Mr. Southwell, Lord
Paget, and other young men, a " Catholic As
sociation," which was solemnly blessed by
Gregory XIII, April 14, 1580. The members
promised to imitate the lives of the Apostles,
and to devote themselves wholly to the salvation
of souls and the conversion of heretics. They
were to be content with the necessaries of their
state, and to bestow all the rest for the good of
the Catholic cause. They supplied the priests
with altar requisites, with horses, and various
changes of apparel, and disguised themselves
as grooms or servants and escorted the priests
through the country from house to house. To
Gilbert is due the first idea of the frescoes of the
English martyrs in the English College, Rome.
He was admitted to the Society of Jesus on his
death-bed.
" And the multitude of believers had but one
heart and one soul, neither did any one say that
aught of the things he possessed was his own, but
all things were common unto them." — ACTS
iv. 32.
292
October 7
POVERTY PREFERRED
Bishop BONNER OF LONDON, 1569
SUMMONED by the Council and requested to
resign, with the assurance of a good pension if
he would do so, he replied that he preferred
death. "How then," they asked, "will you
live?" "Nothing indeed remains to me ; but I
hope in God, who will not fail me, and in my
friends, the more that I may be able to gain
my livelihood by teaching children, which pro
fession I did not disdain to exercise although
I was a bishop. And should no one be found
willing to accept my teaching, I am a doctor
of law and will resume the study of what I
have forgotten, and will thus gain my bread.
And should this not succeed, I know how to
labour with my hands in gardens and orchards,
as planting, grafting, sowing, etc. as well as any
gardener in the Kingdom. And should this also
be insufficient, I desire no other grace, favour,
or privilege from Her Majesty than what she
grants to the mendicants who go through
London from door to door begging, that I may
do the like if necessary." When the Council
heard this, his final denunciation, they said,
"We have nothing more to do with you at
present. Her Majesty then will provide herself
with another bishop."
" Hath not God chosen the poor in this world,
rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which
God hath promised to them that love him?" —
JAS. ii. 5.
293
October 8
CASTING OUT DEVILS
f Ven. RICHARD DIBDALE, Pr., 1586
BORN in Worcestershire, ordained at Rheims,
he began his labours in the English Mission in
1 584. He was specially renowned as an exorcist.
At Sir George Peckham's, Denham, near Ux-
bridge, and other places, by the virtue and
power which Christ has bequeathed to the
ministers of His Church, the martyr showed
his mastery over evil spirits. They were forced
to leave the bodies of the possessed, and to
bring from their mouths pieces of metal and
other things which could never have entered a
human body. In obedience to the prayers and
exorcisms of the Church, they declared, to their
own confusion, the virtue of the sign of the
Cross, holy water, and relics, both of the ancient
saints and of those suffering in England in those
days for the Catholic faith. These manifesta
tions were slighted indeed by some incredulous
and hard-hearted heretics ; yet others who were
not so biassed by passion, but more reasonable,
were convinced by what they saw, and there
upon renounced their errors. Father Dibdale
was condemned to die for his priestly character
and functions, and accordingly was, together
with BB. Lowe and Adams, driven to Tyburn,
and there hanged, drawn, and quartered,
Octobers, -1586.
" He gave them power over unclean spirits to
cast them out." — MATT. x. i.
294
October 9
OUR CAPTAIN CHRIST (i)
B. THIRKELL TO THE CATHOLIC PRISONERS
" WHO has now cast you into prison, or who can
do so without the permission of Divine Provi
dence ? Whose cause is it that you have taken
upon you to defend but that of Christ Himself?
Whose soldiers are you but Christ's ? Whose is
the Standard under which you serve Christ but
the Holy Spirit ? Who is the Captain of your
warfare but Christ ? Who is it that will pay you
the reward of veteran soldiers but Christ ? Who
is it that will crown you as conquerors but
Christ ? Who is it that will unite you to those
holy men of God who have waged these battles
before you but Christ? Who is it that will
bring you to the glorious palms of the martyrs
but Christ? Who is He by whose help and
blessing you hope to obtain for your possession
the bliss of eternal glory, together with blessed
Lacey, Kirkman, Thompson, and Hart, and your
other fathers of happy memory, but Christ ? Be
brave and faithful, then, and let no torments,
crosses, or afflictions lead you to fail in courage.
If the Lord Mayor should commit you to yet
closer custody, Christ your Captain will grant
you to roam far and wide in His royal palace of
delights."
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little
lower than the angels, for the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honour." — HEB. ii. 9.
295
October 10
OUR CAPTAIN CHRIST (2)
B. THIRKELL TO THE CATHOLIC PRISONERS
"IF the judges and commissioners have seized
unjustly your goods, Christ your King will grant
you to receive in this world a hundred-fold for
every farthing you have lost, and in the world
to come eternal life and bliss that shall never
know an end. If wicked gaolers use force and
cruelty, continually annoy and torment, fre*
quently examine and persecute you, let not all
these things cause you the least trouble of mind
or make you remiss in the divine service. You
will see that Christ will visit you the more
quickly, that He will give you greater consola
tions day by day, and will make His throne in
your hearts with the more frequency and the
more pleasure. Therefore be of good cheer,
beloved, clap with your hands, yea, let every
member of your bodies exult with joy, in that
you have a cause so noble, Christ for your
Captain, the Holy Ghost for your Comforter,
and for your advocates and defenders the Blessed
Virgin Mary, the Angels, the Holy Apostles,
the Martyrs, the Confessors, the Virgins, the
blood of your fathers so freshly spilt which cries
aloud to Heaven to obtain for you perseverance
to the end."
" For it became Him who had brought many
children into glory to perfect the Author of their
salvation by His Passion." — HEB. ii. 10.
296
October 1 1
THE IMAGE OF CHRIST
Yen. THOMAS BULLAKER, O.S.F., 1642
"IF you go on as you have begun, before many
years," he said to the Sheriff, " the law will make
it treason to believe in Jesus Christ. You must
hate Him greatly since you cannot bear to behold
the Statue and image which is a memorial of
His Passion and our Redemption, and which
the most praiseworthy piety of your forefathers
erected at great cost." Hereupon those who
stood around cried out, " Where in the Scripture
did Christ order an image of Himself to be
made ? " Bullaker replied : " The precise words
do not occur, yet the natural law, to which the
Divine law is never opposed, approves of the
practice. Reason teaches and experience proves
that an injury done to a statue is done to Him
whose person it represents. To make the thing
clearer, if any one insulted, trampled underfoot,
or broke to pieces the statue of the King, would
you not say that he was guilty of treason ? And if
it be so, ask yourselves, I entreat you, how much
greater a crime it must be to injure and abuse
the statue of Jesus Christ our Saviour, the King
of kings, as you have lately done."
" Whom He foreknew, He also predestinated
to be made conformable to the image of His
Son." — ROM. viii. 29.
297
October 12
FIRE FROM HEAVEN
t Ven. THOMAS BULLAKER, O.S.F., 1642
SON of a well-known Catholic physician at
Chichester, he was sent to St. Omer's, and
thence entered the Franciscan Order in Spain.
He first offered himself for the Mission in the
West Indies, but England ^being pointed out as
a richer field for his labours, thither he went.
On landing at Plymouth he was arrested and
imprisoned, and his sufferings then endured
affected his health for the remainder of his
life. As nothing could be proved against him,
he was discharged, and for eleven years
laboured in the country. The heroic sufferings
of Father Ward enkindled in him, however, a
holy envy, and he obtained leave to remove to
London. He chose that part of the city where
he was most in peril, but his hope for martyrdom
was constantly deferred. Pursuivants came to
his house, but would not take him, though he
declared himself a priest. The next day they
returned, and, though his Breviary was on the
table, they left without arresting him. Deem
ing himself unworthy of the crown, he re
doubled his prayers and tears, and was arrested
on Sunday, September 11, 1642, at the begin
ning of his Mass, and to his great joy was
executed at Tyburn, October 12, 1642.
" I am come to cast fire on the earth, and
what will I but that it be enkindled ? " — LUKE
xii. 49.
298
October 13
THE LAST GLORIA
• «
Ven. THOMAS BULLAKER, O.S.F., 1642
"!N the year 1642," he writes, "on September
1 1, which fell on a Sunday, it pleased the Most
High and Mighty God to put an end to my
sufferings, and give me, His most unworthy
servant, the consolation and hope that what I
have so long desired and prayed for would
shortly come to pass. Blessed be His Holy
Name for all eternity. After having finished
the Divine office on the morning of this Day, in
order that I might better offer the unbloody
Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ to God, I recollected myself as
was fitting and as best I could, and I prayed
His Divine Majesty of His Infinite Goodness
to grant me for love of Him to exchange life,
and, knowing my own unworthiness, of His
overflowing and Infinite Goodness to make up
for my poverty. After having prayed thus with
the greatest fervour that God granted me, I
rose, and having washed my hands and said
the Litany of the Blessed Virgin as usual, I
began the Mass. But lo, as I was intoning the
'Gloria in Excelsis,' the apostate pursuivant
Wadsworth came into the room, laid hands on
me at the Altar, and took me to the Sheriff."
" Father, glorify Thy Name. A voice came
from Heaven, I have glorified it and will
glorify it again." — JOHN xii. 28.
299
October 14
THE DWELLERS OF CAPHARNAUM
Yen. THOMAS BULLAKER, O.S.F., 1642
" THE Commissioners said, looking at my vest
ments before them, that they were of inferior
quality. I replied, ' they were yet too precious
for their present possessors.3 'Though the
vestments are poor,' said the President, 'they
are used for a most splendid idolatry.' * What
idolatry ?' I asked. * Is it not idolatry,' he said,
'to worship bread as God?' I replied, 'We
never adore bread and wine in the tremendous
sacrifice of the Mass, but we adore our Lord
Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread
and wine, and offer to Him the worship that is
due to Him according to the opinion and
practice of the Universal Church from the days
of the Apostles to those of Martin Luther.'
To this he said nothing. Meanwhile it
happened that in turning over the vestments
and other things one of them discovered an
altar-stone ; and noticing on it the Sign of
Christ's Cross he looked at it thoughtfully, and
at last exclaimed that he had found the mark
of the beast. I could scarcely help laughing at
the gross ignorance and simplicity of the man.
Turning to him I said, 'As such intimacy
exists between you and the beast, I beg you to
tell me plainly what is his name.3"
" How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
JOHN vi. 53.
300
October 15
A PROPHECY FULFILLED
Ven. THOMAS BULLAKER, O.S.F., 1642
" THE President now asked me how I had dared
to break and repudiate the laws of the country.
I answered with the Apostles (Acts iv.), ' Judge
you if it be just in the sight of God to obey you
rather than God.' Sir William Cawley, my old
school-fellow, said, ' You know, Mr. Bullaker, it
is said, " Fear God, and honour the King." '
'I know it,' said I, 'and I know also that the
Parliament which made it treason to be a priest
did also by law establish the government of the
Church by bishops, the Common Prayer, and
ceremonies ; all which in this present Parlia
ment you oppose.' 'True,' said he; 'but why
may we not amend what is ill ordered before ?'
'This,' said I, 'is what you attempt, but know
for certain that a Parliament will come, and that
the very next Parliament that shall sit, in which
that religion which you now pretend to estab
lish (viz. presbytery) will be rejected and thrown
out.' He answered that ' I should never see
that day.' I replied, ' I know that the time of
my dissolution is at hand, but what I have
foretold will certainly happen.'" It did so, for
after the Rump was dissolved, there was no
legal Parliament till the Restoration.
"The lame walk, the lepers are cleansed . . .
and blessed is he that shall not be scandalised
in Me."— MATT. xi. 5, 6.
301
October 16
FATHER OF MANY SONS
t WILLIAM, Cardinal ALLEN, 1594
BORN at Rossall Hall, Lancashire, he went to
Oriel College, Oxford, and in Mary's reign be
came Canon of York. On Elizabeth's accession
he repaired to London, then returned to his home
in Lancashire to strengthen the faith of the
Catholics, and his zeal brought his life into
danger, and he was forced to fly abroad. There,
first in the Seminary at Douay and later in the
English College at Rome, he laid the founda
tions of those training grounds for priests, who
for two centuries kept the faith in this country
and furnished such an illustrious band of mar
tyrs and confessors. " Douay," he wrote, a few
months before his death, "is as dear to me
as my own life, and which hath next to God
been the beginning and ground of all the
good and salvation which is wrought in Eng
land." Created Cardinal by Sixtus V, he became
the natural protector of the afflicted English
Catholics, and by his writings and influence
powerfully aided their cause. Dying, he said
that the greatest pain he suffered was to see
that after by God's help he had induced so
many to endure imprisonment, persecution,
and martyrdom in England, he had deserved
by his sins to end his life on that bed. — Rome,
October 16.
" For if you have ten thousand instructors in
Christ yet not many fathers. For in Christ
Jesus by the gospel I have begotten you." —
I COR. iv. 15.
302
October 17
ON ATTENDANCE AT PROTESTANT
SERVICES
Cardinal ALLEN, 1594
" NEVER teach nor defend the lawfulness of com
municating with the Protestants in their prayers,
or services, or conventicles where they meet to
minister their untrue sacraments ; for this is
contrary to the practice of the Church and the
holy fathers of all ages, who never communi
cated nor allowed in any Catholic person to
pray together with Arians, Donatists, or what
other soever. Neither is it a positive law of the
Church, and therefore dispensable on occasions,
but it is forbidden by God's Eternal Law, as by
many evident arguments I could convince, and
it hath been largely proved in sundry treatises
in our own tongue, and we have practised it
from the beginning of our miseries. And lest
any of my brethren should distrust my judg
ment, or be not satisfied by the proofs adduced,
or myself be beguiled therein in my own con
ceit, I have not only taken the opinion of learned
divines here, but, to make sure, I have asked
the judgment of His Holiness (Clement VIII)
thereon. And he expressly said that participa
tion in prayers with Protestants, or going to
their services was neither lawful nor dispen
sable."
" And their speech spreadeth like a canker.
Let every one depart from iniquity who nameth
the Name of the Lord."— 2 TIM. ii. 17, 20.
303
October 18
AN APOSTATE LAND
Cardinal ALLEN, 1594
IN his defence of the Seminary Priests he wrote
thus : " First and foremost for the clergy, it is
wholly distrained and destroyed, as the world
knoweth. The Chief Prelates, Bishops, and
others, all spoiled of their dignities and liveli
hoods, thrust into prisons, forced into banish
ment, till by manifold and long miseries they be
almost all wasted and worn away. These, then,
so many, so notable, and so worthy, for whom
God, nature, and their place of birth do challenge
a part of that so much prized prosperity, feel
none of it ; but for mere conscience and con
fession of the truth, which their holy predeces
sors laid and left with them in deposition, have
lost their terrene lot, and either are dead or
have passed so many years in misery, as those
other good fellows, their intruders, have lived in
joy and felicity ; who, indeed, are ' filii hominum
qui nubunt et nubuntur/ that is, certain fleshly
companions, unordered apostates, and contemp
tible ministers, who entering into the right and
room of others, provided not for them, do think
all fair weather in England, and have good
cause to like the luck of these late years, which
maketh true men mourners, while these thieves
be merry."
"They have changed my delightful portion
into a desolate wilderness. They have laid it
waste, and it hath mourned for me." — JER. xii.
10, II.
304
October 19
FROM PRISON TO PARADISE
t Ven. PHILIP HOWARD, L., 1595
AFTER his condemnation he rose at 5 A.M., and
spent four or five hours every morning and three
or four in the afternoon in prayer, so that his
knees grew very hard and black. He fasted
thrice a week, and on the Vigils of the great
Feasts he had neither meat nor drink. In his
spare time, besides a little physical exercise, he
used his remarkable intellectual gifts in trans
lating spiritual works. To the poor he gave
much of his scanty allowance, and he intended,
if ever it were possible, to restore all Church
lands in his possession, to make his two houses
monasteries, and himself to enter religion.
Through his rigid confinement his body wasted
while his soul waxed strong, till one day, at
dinner, he was seized with a dysentery, which
consumed him to skin and bone. The Queen
refused his petition for a priest or for his wife
and children to visit him, though this latter she
had promised, but she sent word that, if he
would go to church once, all would be granted,
his honour and estates restored, and the fulness
of her favour. He refused her offer, and after
elexren years' imprisonment gave back his soul
to God. He inscribed on his cell, "The more
of suffering for Christ in this life, the more of
glory with Christ in the next."
" The sufferings of this life are not worthy to
be compared with the glory to come." — ROM.
viii. 18.
305 U
October 20
THE HATRED OF HERODIAS (i)
Yen. PHILIP HOWARD, L., 1595
Married at the age of twelve to Ann, eldest
daughter of Lord Dacres, when fifteen he went
to Cambridge, and thence to Court, where he
enjoyed the special favour of Elizabeth, giving
himself wholly to the vices and follies of her
corrupt circle. To win her smile he squandered
his estates by lavish entertainments at Kening
Hall and Norwich, cruelly neglected his wife,
and abandoned the practice and profession of
his religion. His conscience was first awakened
by hearing B. Edmund Campion dispute with
the Protestant minister at the Tower, and he
resolved to go abroad and be reconciled. The
Queen, however, suspecting his design, had him
apprehended when embarking at Hull, and sent
him back to London. There she ordered him to
prepare a great banquet at Arundel House, which
she herself attended. But yesterday his grate
ful guest, she again ordered his arrest, and he
was severely examined, but was released, as
nothing could be proved against him. He made
use of his freedom to be reconciled, and began
henceforth a blameless religious life, was re
united in closest affection with his wife, who was
also now a Catholic, and intensified thereby the
hatred of the Queen.
"But she, being instructed before by her
mother, said, Give me now in a dish the head of
John the Baptist." — MATT. xiv. 8.
306
October 21
THE HATRED OF HERODIAS (2)
Ven. PHILIP HOWARD, L., 1595
PHILIP'S life as a recusant, which he now was,
made his residence in England even more peril
ous, and he determined to seek safety abroad.
He had, however, scarcely embarked when his
vessel was stopped by order of the Council, and
he was taken prisoner. For leaving the King
dom without the Queen's leave and for being
reconciled to the Church, he was fined ^1000,
and sentenced to prison during the Queen's
pleasure. At first, in the Tower, he had con
siderable liberty, and with his fellow Catholics
contrived to have Mass ; but on the falsified
charge of having prayed for the success of the
Armada, he was tried for high treason and con
demned to death. The sentence was not carried
out, but he was subjected instead to a series
of hardships and sufferings, the joint product
of feminine malice and despotic power. For
several years a keeper, specially appointed by
the Queen, never left his presence, heard his
every word, and constantly by false reports
further increased the Queen's wrath. His room
was dark and exhaled a pestilential stench. He
was slandered to his wife as unfaithful to her
and intemperate, nor was he ever allowed to see
her. She herself was reduced to poverty.
" Let them bear witness that he hath blas
phemed God and the King, and then carry him
out and stone him, and so let him die." —
3 KINGS xxi. 10.
307
October 22
A FILIAL APPEAL
Ven. R. SOUTHWELL, S.J., TO HIS
PROTESTANT FATHER (i)
" NOT only the original law of nature written in
all children's hearts, and derived from the breast
of their mother, is a continual solicitude urging
me on your behalf, but the sovereign decree
enacted by the Father in Heaven, ratified by
the Son, and daily repeated by the instinct of
the Holy Ghost, bindeth every child in the due
of Christianity to tender the state and welfare
of his parents, and is a motive that alloweth no
excuse, but it reverently presseth to the per
formance of duty. Nature by grace is not
abolished nor destroyed, but perfected ; neither
are the impressions razed nor annulled, but
suited to the ends of grace and nature. And if
the affections be so forcible that even in Hell,
where rancour and despite and all feelings of
nature are overwhelmed by malice, they moved
the rich glutton, by experience of his own mis
eries, to have compassion of his kindred, how
much more in the Church of God, where grace
quickeneth charity, and natural good inclina
tions are abetted by supernatural gifts, ought
the like piety to prevail. It is then a continual
cross to me that, whereas my endeavours have
reclaimed many from the brink of perdition, I
have been unable to employ them where they
are most due."
"He that feareth the Lord honoureth his
parents and will serve them as his master." —
ECCLUS. iii. 8.
308
October 23
THE STRICTNESS OF THE RECKONING
Ven. R. SOUTHWELL, S.J., TO HIS
PROTESTANT FATHER (2)
" Now, therefore, to join issue and to come to
the principal drift of my discourse, most humbly
and earnestly I am to beseech you that, both in
respect of the honour of God, of our duty to
His Church, the comfort of your children, and
the redress of your own soul, you would seriously
consider the peril you stand in, and weigh your
self in a Christian balance. Take heed in time
that the words written of old against Balthazar,
and interpreted by the youth Daniel, be not
verified in you. Remember the exposition,
'You have been weighed in the balance and
found wanting.' Remember that you are in the
balance, that the date of your pilgrimage is
well-nigh expired, and that it now behoveth
you to look forward to your country. The
young may die quickly, but the old cannot live
long. Be not careless though our loving Lord
bear long. His patience in so long expecting
is only to lend us respite to repent, by no means
to enlarge our leisure to sin. Be not of those
who would fain pass from the diet of Dives to
the crown of Lazarus, from the servitude of
Satan to the freedom of the Saints."
" Take heed to thyself."—! TIM. iv. 16.
309
October 24
AND THEN THE JUDGMENT
Yen. R. SOUTHWELL, S.J., TO HIS
PROTESTANT FATHER (3)
" WHAT will be your thoughts when, stripped of
your mortal body and turned forth out of the
service and house-room of this world, you are
forced to enter uncouth and strange paths, and
with unknown and ugly company to be carried
before a most severe Judge, carrying in your own
conscience your judgment written and a perfect
register of all your misdeeds, when you shall see
Him prepared to pass the sentence upon you,
against whom you have transgressed? He is
to be the umpire, whom by so many offences
you have made your enemy. Then, not only
the devils but even the angels will plead against
you, and yourself, in spite of your will, be your
own sharpest impeacher. What would you do
in those dreadful exigencies when you saw the
ghastly dungeon and huge gulf of hell breaking
out with most fearful flames ? Would you not
then think a whole life too little to do penance
for so many iniquities ? Devote, then, the small
remnant of your days to making atonement
with God. Wrestle no longer against the
struggles of your conscience. Embrace His
mercy before the time of rigour, and return to
the Church lest He debar you His kingdom."
" Thou hast sealed my offences, as it were, in
a bag."— JOB xiv. 17.
310
October 25
OUR HOME IN HEAVEN
Yen. R. SOUTHWELL, S.J., TO HIS
PROTESTANT FATHER (4)
"GOD Himself saith of such as I am, though
most unworthy, ' He that heareth you heareth
Me, and he that despiseth you despiseth Me.'
I exhort you, therefore, as the Vicegerent of
God, and I numbly request you, as a dutiful
child, that you would surrender your assent, and
yield your soul a happy captive to God's merci
ful inspirations, proceeding from an infinite love,
and tending to your assured good. I have ex
pressed not only my own, but the earnest desire
of your other children, whose humble wishes
are here written with this pen. For it fills with
grief all our hearts to see our dearest father,
to whom nature hath bound and your merits
fastened our affections, dismembered from the
Body to which we are united, to be in hazard
of a further and more grievous separation. O
good sir, shall so many of your branches enjoy
the quickening life of God's grace, bring forth
the flowers and fruits of salvation, and you that
are the root of us be barren and fruitless. May
we be linked as near in spirit as in nature, and,
so living in the compass of our Church, enjoy
in Heaven your most blessed company."
" Until we all meet into the unity of faith,
and the knowlege of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man." — EPH. iv. 13.
October 26
WISDOM LEARNT IN CHAINS
B. RICHARD THIRKELL, Pr., 1583
"THE world, dear daughter, grows here in
prison insipid and its pleasures bitter as gall,
its shows and delights empty and worthless.
There is only one true joy, one object, and that
is Christ. My greatest pleasure and comfort
now is in conversing with Him. Short is the
time thus employed, sweet and delightful. The
words He speaks to me so elevate my spirit
and change my fleshly affections that my prison
seems but a paradise, and the privation of all
earthly comfort a heavenly joy. But why didst
Thou not suffer me to relish these sweetnesses
sooner? Wretch as I am ! it was my un-
worthiness (still as great as ever) that has kept
me from such an honour ; my vicious pro
pensities that have prevented my attaining to
the blessing of these crosses ; my iniquities and
sins that have delayed my promotion to the
happiness of this solitude. These jewels of so
great a price, all these riches the great God has
been pleased to confer upon me here in my
prison, all which I acknowledge as His gift,
attributing nothing to myself. To Him, there
fore, be all honour and praise and glory for so
unspeakable a benefit bestowed upon his poor,
wretched, and altogether unworthy servant."
"According to the multitude of the sorrows
of my heart, Thy comforts have given joy to my
soul."— Ps. xciii. 19.
312
October 27
A WORM AND NO MAN
B. ALEXANDER BRIANT, S.J., 1581
AFTER his racking he swooned away, so that
they were fain to sprinkle cold water on his face
to revive him, but they relieved no part of his
pain. And here Norton, because they could get
nothing out of him, asked him whether the
Queen were Supreme Head of the Church of
England or not ? To this he said : " I am a
Catholic, and I believe in this as a Catholic
should do." "Why," said Norton, "they say
the Pope is ?" " And so say I," answered Mr.
Briant. Here also the lieutenant used racking
and reviling words, and bobbed him under the
chin, and slapped him on the cheek in an un
charitable manner, and all the commissioners
rose up and went away, giving commandment
to leave him so all night. And when they saw
he was nothing moved they willed he should be
taken from the torment, and sent him again to
(the dungeon) Walesboure ; where, not able to
move hand or foot or any part of his body, he
lay in his clothes fifteen days together, without
bedding, in great pain and anguish.
" My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and
my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws, and Thou
hast brought me down unto the dust of death."
— Ps. xxi. 1 6.
3'3
October 28
THE MORE EXCELLENT WAY
B. ALEXANDER BRIANT, S.J., 1581
FROM his prison he wrote as follows, begging
for admission to the Society of Jesus : " Yet
now while I am by the appointment of God de
prived of liberty, so as I cannot any longer em
ploy myself, my spirit waxeth fervent hot, and
at the last I have made a vow and promise to
God. I will within the one year next follow
ing assign myself wholly to the Fathers of the
Society, and, if God inspires their hearts to admit
me, will gladly and thoroughly surrender my
will to His service, and in all obedience under
them. This vow was to me a passing great joy
in the midst of my tribulations, and I verily hope
this came from God, for thus it was. The day
I was first tormented on the rack while I was
calling upon the most Holy Name of Jesus and
upon the Blessed Virgin Mary (for I was in
saying the Rosary), my mind was cheerfully dis
posed to endure those torments which even then
I most certainly looked for. The prayers ended,
my former thought returned, and I put forth my
vow freely and boldly with the conditions afore
said, which act methinketh God did approve ;
for in all my torments He did stand by me com
forting me."
" But be zealous for the better gifts. And I
show unto you a yet more excellent way." —
I COR. xii. 31.
314
October 29
WITH ARMS OUTSTRETCHED
Yen. HENRY HEATH, O.S.F., 1643
AFTER his conversion he was admitted to
Douay, and thence entered the Franciscan
Order. In religious observance he was a model
to all and rose to the highest posts in his Order.
He made three rules for himself : (i) Willingly
to suffer the loss of all right and authority, of
good name and personal convenience, for God's
sake. (2) Willingly to be the servant of every
creature, with crosses and afflictions as reward.
(3) To live as absolutely dead to the defects of
others that he might constantly lament his own.
Hd^slept on the bare ground, wore a hair-shirt,
and an iron chain round his neck, took frequent
disciplines to blood, and after Matins and till
Meditation in Choir continued most of the night
in prayer. Praying with the arms outstretched
was a favourite devotion of the Friars Minor,
and this was one of the means by which he pre
pared himself to shed his blood for the Crucified.
By it he obtained many favours. Once when
attacked by a contagious disorder, of which
many of the Friars had died, he remained on
his knees with his arms outstretched till they
fell through weakness, but at the same moment
he was restored to health.
"And when Moses lifted up his hands Israel
overcame." — EXOD. xvii. n.
315
October 30
THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
f Yen. JOHN SLADE, L,, 1583
ON Wednesday, 30th October, John Slade, a
schoolmaster, was drawn from the prison at
Winchester to the market-place for his execu*
tion. Being taken off the hurdle, he knelt down
by the gallows and made the sign of the Cross
on the posts. Questioned on the Queen's spiritual
supremacy, he replied, "The Supremacy hath
and doth belong to the Pope by right from
Peter, and the Pope hath received it as by
Divine providence. Therefore we must not
give those things belonging to God to any other
than Him alone. And because I will not do
otherwise, I may say with the three children
in the fiery oven, and the first of the widow's
seven sons in the Machabees : " Parati sumus
mori magis quam patrias Dei leges praevari-
cari" (2 Mach. vii. 2). Again pressed by the
Protestant chaplain on the same subject, Slade
said, " Sir, you are very busy in words : if the
Pope hath excommunicated the Queen, I think
he hath done no more than he may or than he
ought to do. I will acknowledge no other head
of the Church, but only the Pope, and her
Majesty hath only that authority in temporal
causes that he allows her." On this the people
cried, " Away with the traitor ! Hang him !
hang him ! "
"But they cried again, saying, Crucify
Him, crucify Him." — LUKE xxiii. 21.
October 3 1
THIRST FOR MARTYRDOM
Yen. HENRY HEATH, O.S.F., 1643
AFTER nineteen years at Douay, the news of
his brothers martyred in England urged him to
petition to be sent there also. "When I re
member," he wrote to his superior, " their un
conquerable fortitude, their constancy in the
faith, their recklessness of flesh and blood, I am
overwhelmed with shame that, while they fight,
I remain at home in idleness and peace. Alas,
my dearest Sir, I await only a command from
you ; nothing else detains me. This my petition
is not new or unheard of, or aught else than
what stones and plants and other inanimate
things by a natural inclination covet and pursue,
for, verily, all things of their own accord tend
towards the centre and end for which they
were created. I confess, indeed, that I am
both wholly unfit and unworthy to exercise the
Apostolic office, or to receive reproaches and
insults for the Name of Jesus. But strength is
made perfect in weakness, and God chooses
the foolish to confound the wise. Moreover, I
am convinced that I am no less bound than
others to serve Jesus Christ and to suffer for
Him. May our most gracious Lord inspire you
to hasten your consent, and I shall remain to
all eternity your poor son, "P. M."
'* Lo, here am I, send me." — ISA. vi. 8.
317
November I
UPON THE IMAGE OF DEATH
Ven. ROBERT SOUTHWELL, S.J., 1595
BEFORE my face the picture hangs
That daily should me put in mind
Of those cold names and bitter pangs
That shortly I am like to find :
But yet, alas ! full little I
Do think hereon that I must die.
I often look upon a face,
Most ugly, grisly, bare and thin ;
I often view the hollow place
Where eyes and nose had sometime been ;
I see the bones across that lie,
Yet little think that I must die.
My ancestors are turned to clay,
And many of my mates are gone ;
My youngers daily drop away,
And can I think to 'scape alone ?
No, no, I know that I must die,
And yet my life amend not I.
If none can 'scape Death's dreadful dart,
If rich and poor his beck .obey ;
If strong, if wise, if all do smart,
Then I to 'scape shall have no way.
Oh ! grant me grace, O God, that I
My life may mend, sith I must die.
November 2
THE WATERS OF MARA
t Ven. JOHN BODEY, L., 1583
ON Saturday, November 2nd, he was drawn to
the gallows, and being laid on the hurdle, he
said thus, " O sweet bed, the happiest bed that
ever man laid on ! Thou art welcome to me."
When the hangman put the halter about his
neck, he kissed it and said, " O blessed chain,
the sweetest chain and richest that ever came
about any man's neck ! " And so kissing it, he
suffered the hangman to put it about his neck.
Being told that he was dying for high treason,
he replied, " I have been sufficiently condemned,
for I have been convicted twice. You make the
hearing of a blessed Mass, or the saying of an
Ave Maria, treason, but I have committed
none, though I am punished for treason." In
reply to the Sheriff he said, " I must needs ask
her Majesty's forgiveness, for I have offended
her many ways, as in using unlawful games,
excess in apparel, and in other offences to her
laws ; but in this matter you shall pardon me.
And for the people, as they and I am different
in religion, I will not have them pray for me,
but I pray God to preserve her Majesty." At
length, saying " Jesu, Jesu, esto mihi Jesu," he
was put beside the ladder.
"And they could not drink the waters of
Mara because they were bitter . . . but he cried
to the Lord, and He shewed him a tree, which,
when he had cast into the waters, they were
turned into sweetness." — EXOD. xv. 23, 25.
319
November 3
A VISION IN THE NIGHT
Ven. JOHN BODEY, L., 1583
EXPELLED from New College, Oxford, with
John Slade and confined in Winchester gaol,
they distinguished themselves by their edifying
lives and zeal for souls. They were offered
means of escape, but declined them, and one or
two of the keepers were converted by them to
the Catholic faith. At the bar they pleaded the
cause of Catholic religion, with answers so appo
site and a zeal so fervent, that they recalled the
large part of Hampshire from frequenting the
Protestant churches. Not only many gentle
men of position, but even the country folk, re
turned to the faith from all sides. Bodey, as
trustworthy Catholics relate, saw in a dream,
the night before his death, two bulls attacking
him very furiously but without at all hurting
him, at which he was much astonished. The
next day two hangmen came down from London
to execute him, and as they walked on either
side of him he chanced to ask their names, and
as they one after the other answered that they
were called Bull, he at .once, remembering his
dream, said, " Blessed be God ; you are those
two bulls who gave me such trouble last night
in my dream, and yet did me no harm." He
then joyfully composed himself for death.
" And the Lord said to Paul in the night by
vision, Do not fear." — ACTS xviii. 9.
320
November 4
MASSES FOR THE DEAD
Ven. JOHN CORNELIUS, S.J., 1594
HE was born of Irish parents at Bodmin in
Cornwall, and on account of his rare abilities he
was sent to Oxford by Sir John Arundel. Pre
ferring the old religion, he left the University,
was ordained in Rome, and was chosen to make
a Latin oration in the Pope's Chapel on St.
Stephen's Day. He was noted for his sanctity,
zeal for souls, power as a preacher, and his
dominion as an exorcist over evil spirits, and
for a singular vision granted him. John Lord
Stourton, though a Catholic at heart, had out
wardly conformed, and had died unreconciled,
but with great desire for the Sacraments and
extraordinary marks of repentance. When
Cornelius was saying Mass for the repose of his
soul at the memento for the dead, he excited
the wonder of all present by remaining appar
ently transfixed by some apparition on the
Gospel side of the altar. At the conclusion of
the Mass he explained that the soul of the said
Lord Stourton, then in Purgatory, had appeared
to him desiring his prayers, and begging him
to request his mother to have Masses said for
his soul. The vision was also seen by Brother
Patrick Salmon, S.J. Father Cornelius was
apprehended in Lady Arundel's house, and was
executed with Brother Salmon and others at
Dorchester, July 4, 1594.
" It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought
to pray for the dead that they may be loosed
from their sins." — 2 MACH. xii. 46.
321 X
November 5
THE BLACKFRIARS COLLAPSE
ROBERT DRURY, S.J., 1653
BORN in Middlesex, converted when a boy of
fourteen, he became a Jesuit priest and a cele
brated preacher. On Sunday, November 5,
1623, he was preaching at Hunsdon House, the
French Ambassador's, formerly a Dominican
priory, on the merciless servant, to a congrega
tion of some three hundred persons assembled in
the upper room. He enlarged ( i ) on man's debt
to God, and the account to be rendered : (2) God's
mercy in remitting the debt ; (3) man's hardness
of heart towards God and his brethren. After
the sermon had proceeded about half-an-hour,
the floor suddenly gave way, and the congrega
tion was precipitated through the second floor,
twenty-four feet to the ground, and lay crowded
and buried beneath a mass of boards, beams,
and human bodies. Nearly eighty persons
perished, of high and low condition. Among
the victims was Father Whittington, S.J., who
was said to have converted a hundred and fifty
persons that year. The Puritans regarded the
catastrophe as a judgment of God on the Papist
idolaters. The Catholics, on the other hand,
consoled themselves with the assured hope of
the salvation of the dead, who, many of them
that morning, had confessed and communicated.
" Blessed are those servants whom the Lord,
when He cometh, shall find watching." — LUKE
xii. 37.
322
November 6
THE VOW OF RELIGIOUS
Yen. CORNELIUS TO A NUN
THE following letter was written by Father
Cornelius, half-an-hour before he was called out
to suffer, to his ghostly child Dorothy, the eldest
daughter of Lady Arundel, who had vowed to
enter the Order of St. Bridget :—
" * He that loveth his life in this world shall
lose it ; and he that hateth it shall find it.' If
I find it by the grace and infinite mercy of God
(though very unworthy and miserable), with
exceeding great satisfaction and never-ending
pleasure, I shall remember you. In the mean
time, whilst the soul remains in this body, pray
you for me ; for I have a great confidence that
we shall see one another in Heaven, if you keep
inviolable the word you have given first to God
and then to St. Bridget. I heartily commend you
to my poor mother, and the promise of your vow,
concerning which I have written to you three
or four times, and wonder you have taken no
notice of it. The devil is always on the watch ;
be you also watchful. Signify your will to me
that I may carry with me your resolution to
St. Bridget. I do not forget those whom I do
not name. God be your keeper. — Yours, John,
who is going to die for a moment that he may
live for ever."
"When thou hast made a vow to the Lord
thy God, thou shalt not delay to pay it ; because
the Lord thy God will require it." — DEUT.
xxiii. 21.
323
November 7
GOD'S WAYS NOT OURS
Ven. EDMUND GENINGS, Pr., 1591
PAGE in the family of Mr. Sherwood, a Catholic
gentleman, he was converted, ordained priest
at Rheims, and, when only twenty-three years
old, landed in England. His first desire was to
convert his family in Litchfield, but finding that
all were dead except a brother, who had gone
to London, thither he went himself. After a
month's fruitless search he was about returning
to the country when, walking by St. Paul's, an
unaccountable fear came over him, and, looking
round, seeing only a youth in a brown cloak, he
went on to say Mass. On his way home the
same strange feeling returned, and finding the
same youth behind him, felt sure this was his
brother John. He accosted him, told him he
was a kinsman, and asked him what had be
come of his brother Edmund, without revealing
himself as a priest. The youth replied that he
had gone to the Pope, was become a traitor
to God and his country, and if he returned
would certainly be hung. Finding him hope
lessly bigoted, he left him, promising on his
return to confide to him an important matter.
The matter was indeed important. John was
converted by Edmund's martyrdom, and, as a
Franciscan friar, renewed the life of his Order
in England.
" My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my
ways your ways, saith the Lord." — ISA. Iv. 8.
324
November 8
CATHOLIC LOYALTY
B. EDWARD POWEL, Pr., 1540
BORN in Wales, educated at Oxford, Fellow
of Oriel College, 1495, Rector of Bleadon in
the diocese of Wells, Prebendary of Salisbury
Cathedral, and Vicar of St. Mary's, RedclifTe,
Bristol, he held a plurality of benefices by licence
of Leo X. He was in high repute, especially for
a treatise against the heresies of Luther, and
was recommended to Henry VIII, then a zeal
ous Catholic, by the university as " a chief and
brilliant gem." He was celebrated also as a
preacher, notably for his sermon against Latimer
and for that against the Divorce, in which he
declared that for a king to put away his first
wife and take a second without the dispensa
tion of the Church was an open sin infecting
the people as did King David with his adultery.
This was his undoing. He was cast into Dor
chester gaol, and so cruelly fettered that he could
not lie down. Removed to the Tower, he was
condemned with B. Fisher and others in 1534
for refusing the oath, and was executed with
BB. Abel and Fetherston and three apostate
Zwinglian priests, Barnes, Gerard, and Jerome,
July 30, 1540. Against Barnes, in a pamphlet
still extant, he defended Catholics against the
charge of disloyalty, and declared that sedition
and rebellion were unknown in the ancient faith,
but were the offspring of heresy alone.
" Let every soul be subject to higher powers,
for there is no power but from God." — ROM.xiii. I.
325
November 9
THE LAST MASS
f Ven. GEORGE NAPPIER, Pr., 1610
" BEING at supper, I (his friend, a layman) said
unto him : ' Mr. Nappier, if it be God's holy
will that you should suffer, I do wish that it
might be to-morrow, Friday, for our Saviour
did eat the Paschal lamb with His disciples
the Thursday night and suffered Friday follow
ing.' He answered, very sweetly, 'Welcome,
by God's grace ; pray you all that I may be
constant.3 The next morning the keeper's wife
begged me to tell him that he was to die be
tween one and two in the afternoon, for she
could not bear to take the news herself. On
hearing the message he seemed much rejoiced,
and asked if he might say Mass. I prepared all
things, and surely methought he did celebrate
that day as reverently in all his actions and
with as much sweet behaviour as ever I saw
him. At the end he prayed some hours and
then declined my offer of some drink, for he
said that, hoping to meet His Saviour, he would
have a sumptuous banquet shortly. Then I
put him on a fair shirt which I had warmed at
the fire and a white waistcoat. He then went
out to surfer, and beat his breast thrice as his
soul flew to God."
" With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch
with you before I suffer." — LUKE xxii. 15.
326
November 10
UNSEEN IN THE MIDST OF THEM
Yen. GEORGE N APPIER, Pr., 1610
BORN at Oxford, as a student at Douay he
showed his charity by voluntarily nursing two
of his fellow-students with the plague, and took
the contagion himself. He laboured with great
success on the English Mission for seven years,
till in 1610 he was apprehended and brought
before the justice, who ordered the constable
to search him. Mr. Nappier had his pyx with
him containing two consecrated Hosts, and was
in the greatest fear lest the Blessed Sacrament
should fall into heretics' hands and be ex
posed to some profane or sacrilegious treatment.
The search was most strict, and even his
shoes were pulled off in the presence of the
justice that nothing might escape them. And
whereas, while searching his pocket the con
stable, as the priest felt himself, had his hands
many times both upon the pyx and a small
reliquary, yet neither of them were discovered,
to the great surprise and no less joy of the good
man. They only found his Breviary, his holy
oils, and a needle-case, thread and thimble.
The justice, Sir Francis Evers, said he was
but a poor priest, "and I verily believe," he
added," no great statesman," and ordered the
constable to take him into custodv.
" But He (Jesus) passing through the midst
of them went His way." — LUKE iv. 30.
327
November 1 1
A BLESSED LOT
Ven. PETER WRIGHT, S.J., ON THE SCAFFOLD,
1651
" GENTLEMEN, this is a short passage to eter
nity : my time is now short, and I have not much
to speak. I was brought hither charged with
no other crime than being a priest. I willingly
confess that I am a priest, a Catholic, and, as
you call it, a Jesuit. This is the crime for which
I die ; for this alone I was condemned ; and
for propagating the Catholic faith which is
spread through the whole world, taught through
all ages from Christ's time, and will be taught
for all ages to come. For this cause I most
willingly sacrifice my life, and would die a thou
sand times for the same if it were necessary, and
I look upon it as my greatest happiness that rny
most good God has chosen me, most unworthy,
to this blessed lot, the lot of the Saints. This
is a grace, for which so unworthy a sinner could
scarce have wished, much less hoped for. And
now I beg most humbly and as fervently as I
can of God to expel from you that are Protes
tants the darkness of error and enlighten you
with His truth. And you who are Catholics
pray for me and with me up to the end, and in
Heaven I will do as much for you."
" Giving thanks to God the Father who hath
made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the
Saints in light/'— COLOS. i. 12.
November 12
CALLED TO ACCOUNT
B. CAMPION TO PROTESTANT BISHOP CHENEY
" You cry up the Christian world, the assemblies
of Bishops, the guardians of the deposit, that is,
the Ancient Faith ; these you commend to the
people as the interpreters of Scripture ; most
rightly do you ridicule and refute the impudent
figment of certain thieves and robbers. Now,
what do you say? Here you have the most
celebrated Fathers, Legates, Prelates, Car
dinals, Bishops, Deputies, Doctors, of divers
nations, of mature age, rare wisdom, princely
dignity, wonderful learning. All these, whilst
you live as you are living, anathematise you,
hiss you out, excommunicate you, abjure you.
What reason can you urge? Especially now
you have declared war against your colleagues.
Why do you not make full submission, without
any exception, to the discipline of these Fathers ?
Once more consult your heart, my poor old friend.
Show again those excellent gifts which of late
have been smothered in the mud of dishonesty.
Give yourself to your mother who begot you to
Christ, nourished you, consecrated yoij; acknow
ledge how cruel and undutiful you have been ;
let confession be the salve of your sins. You
have one foot in the grave ; you must die, per
haps directly, certainly in a very short time, and
stand before that tribunal where you will hear
'Give an account of thy stewardship.'"
" Give an account of thy stewardship, for now
thou canst be steward no longer." — LUKE xvi. 2.
329
November 13
NEED OF CONTRITION
Ven. JOHN ALMOND, Pr., 1612
THE minister answered that if a man should
determine to kill the King, the Pope would for
give him that sin. He denied, and said that the
Pope neither would nor could do it, but if a man
had committed a sin, after hearty repentance,
contrition, and satisfaction, £c. At which word
satisfaction, the minister took exception again,
and asked him what satisfaction would be made
for killing of a king. He answered that every
venial sin was great, and no satisfaction was
sufficient for it without the Death and Passion
of our Saviour. " Neither is His Death and
Passion sufficient without repentance and con
trition of heart. But if any man has committed
a sin and was truly penitent, the Pope both
might and would forgive him. And so for the
killing of a king, if a madman killed a king, and
was heartily sorry and repentant for it, God
forbid that you and I should then deny that his sin
might be forgiven him." Then asking him how
he thought of it, the minister answered that he
must confess that if any man had committed a
sin and were truly repentant for it, he held his
sin might be forgiven him. But although it
were true doctrine, yet it was dangerous to speak
before a community.
" A contrite and humble heart, O God, Thou
wilt not despise." — Ps. 1. 19.
November 14
GUARDIAN OF THE SANCTUARY
B. HUGH FARINGDON, O.S.B., 1539
ABBOT of Reading Abbey, famous for the relic
of St. James the Greater, he was a favourite of
Henry VIII, who used to call him his own
abbot. He was both learned and pious, and
maintained strict religious discipline in his
house; but he, like Abbot Whiting, compromised
himself by supporting the King in his petition
for the Divorce, and in accepting, at least out
wardly, the doctrine of the Royal Supremacy.
His reparation also was generous and complete.
He was indicted and condemned for rejecting
that very oath of Royal Supremacy to which
before he had consented. From the Tower he
was sent back to Reading and led out to suffer
at his abbey gate. On the scaffold he spoke
out boldly, professed his fidelity to the Holy See,
which he declared to be the common faith of
those who had the best right to define the true
teaching of the English Church. In the Tower
a fellow-prisoner with the Abbot Faringdon was
a blind harper named William Moore. He was
a staunch Catholic, and travelled about from
Abbey to Abbey encouraging the imprisoned
monks and bearing letters from house to house,
and doubtless finding means of sending their
letters to Rome, to the Pope, and Cardinals.
" Our heart is sorrowful ... for Mount Sion
because it is destroyed, but Thou, O Lord, wilt
remain for ever." — LAM. v. 18, 19.
331
November 15
THE WATCHMAN ON THE WALLS
t B. RICHARD WHITING, O.S.B., 1539
HE was the sixty-first and last Abbot of Glas-
tonbury, the most ancient and famous of the
great English Benedictine houses. In rank he
stood next to the Abbot of St. Albans, was a
peer of Parliament and lord, or rather the ad
ministrator, of vast estates. He ruled his hun
dred monks with singular prudence, and his
large revenues were spent for the relief of the
poor and works of charity. He trained some
three hundred youths in a solid and Christian
education, and when the visitors of Henry VIII
arrived at Glastonbury they found only a Re
ligious House of Strict Observance and could
discover no scandal to report. But the King's
greed was set on the Abbey wealth, and it was
not to be withstood. The Abbot at first sub
mitted to take the oath of Supremacy, whether
with or without some saving clause is uncertain,
but when he saw that the King demanded
nothing less than the surrender of his Abbey,
he stood firm and was attaindered. He was
first ordered to London, and there proving
deaf to the King's persuasions, he was given
leave to return home, but to his surprise was
tried for high treason at Wells, and hung on Tor
Hill.
" Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have
appointed watchmen all the day and all the
night : they shall never hold their peace." —
ISA. Ixii. 6.
332
November 16
DEVOTION TO ST. JEROME
t Ven. EDWARD OSBALDESTON, Pr., 1594
OF the family of Osbaldeston of Blackburn,
Lancashire, he was educated at Douay, was
sent on the English Mission in 1589, and after
some years of priestly toil was arrested, as he
himself thus describes : " I was apprehended
at Fowlerton by Mr. Thomas Clark, the
apostate priest, upon St. Jerome's Day, at
night, a thing much to my comfort, for that I
had such a special patron to commend myself
to, and such a stout companion under Christ ;
and besides, it pleased God, much to my com
fort, to let this sign of His love fall unto me that
day ; for His great goodness called me to the
priesthood, and upon St. Jerome's Day I said
my first Mass (and consecrated the blessed
Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and received
Him), and ever since have honoured St. Jerome.
That morning before I came here I made my
prayer to blessed St. Jerome, and in his merits I
offered myself to God to direct me according to
His will and pleasure, that I might walk aright
in my vocation, and follow St. Jerome as long as
God should see it expedient for His Church ; that
I might never refuse to labour or murmur at
any pain or travail, and that if I fell into the
persecutor's hands, He would protect me to the
end." He suffered at York, November 16,
1594.
" To me Thy friends are exceedingly honour
able." — Ps. cxxxviii. 17.
333
November 17
STRONG IN HOPE
Bishop BAYNE OF LICHFIELD, 1559
HE was born in Yorkshire, educated at Cam
bridge, a Biblical scholar of repute, and Pro
fessor of Hebrew in the University of Paris.
He was of such constancy of mind, Sander
writes, in his persecution that he always went
with joy to any questionings, and returned still
happier; but on his deposition he was sitting
both sick and sorrowful in his chains when he
heard a voice saying to him, " Be of good cour
age, for thou shalt suffer martyrdom." He re
lated this occurrence without, however, saying
what kind of martyrdom he would endure. But
it was thus. He suffered such excruciating tor
ment from the stone for six days, that to the
bystanders, among whom were the Bishop of
Chester and the Dean of St. Paul's, the pain
seemed quite unbearable. Yet he did not com
plain, but lifting his eyes at one time to Heaven
and at another time resting them on the Cru
cifix, he invoked the name of Jesus to the last
moment of his life. He was deposed June 21,
1559, and died five months later, November 18,
1559. His gaoler was Grindal, a virulent apos
tate priest, made Protestant Bishop of London.
But he had the consolation of receiving the
Last Sacraments from his fellow-prisoners, the
above-named Bishop and Dean.
"Arise, arise, put on thy strength, O Zion . . .
from henceforth the uncircumcised and unclean
shall no more pass through thee." — ISA. lii. i.
334
November 18
THE PASSION FORETOLD
B. EDMUND CAMPION, S.J., 1581
IN December 1579 Cardinal Allen wrote
Campion : " My father, brother, son, Edmund
Campion, for to you I must use every expression
of the tenderest ties of love — since the General
of your Order, who to you is Christ Himself,
calls you from Prague to Rome, and thence to
our own England ; since your brethren after the
flesh call you — I, who am so closely connected
with them, with you, and with our common
country, both in the world and in the Lord,
must not keep silence, when I should be first to
desire you, to call you, to cry to you. Make all
haste and come, my dearest Campion." On
receiving the command, he heard it in silence,
blushed, and said, "Indeed, the Fathers seem
to suspect something about me. I hope their
suspicions may be true. God's will be done,
not mine." The suspicions to which Campion
referred had already found vent : the night
before a simple father, James Gall, a Silesian,
reputed to have ecstasies, wrote over B. Ed
mund's cell, "P. Edmundus Campianus Martyr."
The writer when discovered was punished for his
infringement of discipline, but he declared that
he felt obliged to do it. Another father had
previously painted a garland of roses and lilies
on the waU of Campion's room, above where his
head rested.
" Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son
of Man shall be betrayed to the chief priests
and scribes, and they shall condemn him to
death."— MATT. xx. 18.
335
November 19
FALSE WITNESSES
B. EDMUND CAMPION, S.J., 1581
"IN common matters we often see witnesses
impeached, and if at any time their credit be little,
it ought then to be less when they swear against
life. Call, I pray you, to your remembrance
how faintly some have deposed, how coldly
others, how untruly the rest ; especially two who
have testified most. What truth may you ex
pect from their mouths ? the one hath confessed
himself a murderer, the other well known as a de
testable atheist — a profane heathen — a destroyer
of two men already. On your consciences, would
you believe them — they that have betrayed both
God and man, nay, that have left nothing to
swear by, neither religion nor honesty ? Though
you would believe them, can you ? I know your
wisdom is greater, your consciences uprighter ;
esteem of them as they be. Examine the other
two, you shall find neither of them precisely
to affirm that we, or any of us, have practised
aught that might be prejudicial to this estate or
dangerous to this commonwealth. God give
you grace to weigh our causes aright, and have
respect to your own consciences ; and so I will
keep the jury no longer. I commit the rest to
God, and our convictions to your good discre
tions."
" Many bore false witness against Him, and
their witness did not agree." — MATT. xxv. 56.
336
November 20
LIFELONG REPENTANCE
Bishop TUNSTALL OF DURHAM, 1559
ERASMUS described him as a man of most
exquisite judgment both in Greek and Latin
literature, but at the same time of incredible
modesty and of sweet and joyful manner. B.
Thomas More, who had been educated with him,
declared that " the world scarce contained any
one of greater learning, prudence, or goodness. ''
Yet he failed where More stood firm, and under
Henry VIII took the oath of Supremacy, and
defended himself to Pole on the ground that the
Pope's supremacy was not so certain a matter
as to die for. Pole replied, " Your friends
Fisher and More were of not so vile a mind as
not to know why they died. God send you a
livelier spirit in His honour." He atoned, how
ever, for his weakness under Edward VI by
his opposition to the new Protestantism, and
was sent to the Tower. Restored to his See of
Durham under Mary, and strengthened and
pardoned by the blessing of Christ's vicar, he
ardently repaired the havoc caused by schism
in his diocese. Summoned by Elizabeth to take
the oath, he refused, and on his arrival in London,
after a week's journey, was deposed, and died
imprisoned under Clark at the age of eighty-
five, November 18, 1559,
" To depart from iniquity pleaseth the Lord,
and to depart from injustice is an entreaty for
sin." — ECCLUS. xxxv. 8. -
337 V
November 21
SHEDDING INNOCENT BLOOD
B. EDMUND CAMPION, S.J., 1581
" WHILE the jury considered of their verdict,
there then happened a thing, which all the
Catholics of the time regarded as a miracle.
Judge Ayliffe was sitting to keep the place,
when the other judges retired. While the
jury consulted about the condemnation of
Father Campion and his company, the judge,
pulling off his glove, found all his hand
and his seal of arms bloody, without any
token of wrong, pricking, or hurt ; and being
dismayed therewith, wiping, it went not away,
but still returned ; he showed it to the gentlemen
who sat before him, who can be witnesses of it
till this day, and have some of them upon their
faith and credit avouched it to be true. The
portent indeed spoke the truth, for the divers
wise and well-learned lawyers and others, con
jecturing and conferring one with another what
should be the verdict, they all .agreed that,
whatever might be concluded as to some of
the rest, it was impossible to condemn Father
Campion. But it was Father Campion that
especially was designed to die, and for his sake
the rest ; and therefore no defence could serve :
and the poor jury did that which they under
stood was looked for at»their hands, and brought
them in all guilty,"
" The Lord detesteth hands that shed inno
cent blood/' — PROV. vi. 16, 17.
338
November 22
WILLING SACRIFICES
Ven. ROBERT SOUTHWELL, S.J., 1595
HE thus describes the condition of his fellow
Catholics, priests and laity : " As yet we are
alive and well, being unworthy, it seems, of
prisons. We have oftener sent than received
letters from your parts, though they are not
sent without difficulty, and some we know
have been lost. The condition of Catholic
recusants here is the same as usual, deplorable
and full of fears and dangers, more especially
since our adversaries have looked for wars.
As many of ours as are in chains rejoice
and are comforted in their prisons ; and they
that are at liberty set not their hearts upon it
nor expect it to be of long continuance. All,
by the great goodness and mercy of God, arm
themselves to suffer anything that can come,
how hard soever it may be, as it shall please
our Lord, for whose greater glory and the sal
vation of their souls they are more concerned
than for any temporal losses. A little while
ago they apprehended two priests, who have
suffered such cruel usages in the prison of Bride
well as can scarce be believed. What was given
them to eat was so little in quantity, and withal
most filthy and nauseous.3'
"Then said I, Behold I come to do Thy will,
O my God." — Ps. xxxix. 7, 9.
339
November 23
WASTED AWAY
t Bishop PATE OF WORCESTER, 1565
HE was the nephew of Longland, the Courtier
Bishop of Lincoln, confessor to Henry VIII,
and was made by him Canon and Archdeacon
of his Cathedral, even before taking his degree
at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Through
his uncle's influence he was sent as Ambassador
to Charles V in Spain. Recalled to England
in 1537, he accepted the Royal Supremacy, and
in 1540 returned as Ambassador to Charles.
Though his desire to please the King led him
into schism, Henry secretly mistrusted him, and
recalled him to England. Pate fled to Rome,
and was attaindered. In Rome he was fully
reconciled to the Church, and nominated to
the See of Worcester by Paul III in 1541, and
assisted as one of two English bishops at the
Council of Trent. On Mary's accession he re
turned to England, and took possession of his
See. Under Elizabeth he voted in the first
Parliament against every anti-Catholic measure,
and made reparation for his previous fall by
refusing to take the oath. He was imprisoned
in the Tower, and then for a year and a half
placed under the custody of Jewel, September
1563, at Salisbury, and finally recommitted to
the Tower, where he died of his sufferings after
six years' confinement, November 23, 1565.
" Because I was silent my bones grew old,
whilst I cried out all the day long. I have
acknowledged my sin to Thee." — Ps, xxxi. 3, 5.
340
November 24
ALONE WITH GOD
B. THOMAS MORE, L., 1535
" Now when he had remained in the Tower
little more than a month, my wife, longing to see
her father, by her earnest suit at length got
leave to go unto him. At whose coming, after
the Seven Psalms and Litany said (which when
soever she came unto him, ere he fell in talk of
any worldly matter he used accustomably to say
with her), among other communications he said
unto her, ' I believe, Meg, that they have put me
here ween that they have done me a high dis
pleasure ; but I assure thee, on my faith, mine
own good daughter, if it had not been for my
wife and ye that be my children, I would not
have failed long ere this to have closed myself
in as strait a room, and straiter too. But since
I have come hither without mine own desert,
I trust that God of His goodness will discharge
me of my care, and with His gracious help
supply my lack among you. I find no cause,
I thank God, Meg, to reckon myself in worse
case here than at home, . for methinks God
maketh me a wanton, and setteth me on His
lap, and dandleth me.3 "
" I will allure her and lead her into the
wilderness, and I will speak, to her heart.'' —
OSEE ii. 14.
341
November 25
A DAUGHTER'S FAREWELL
B. THOMAS MORE, L., 1535
His daughter awaited his return to the Tower
on the entrance by the wharf. As soon as she
saw him, after his blessing upon her knees
reverently received, she, hasting towards him,
without consideration or care of herself, pressing
in amongst the midst of the throng and company
of the guard, that with halberds and bills went
round about him, hastily ran to him, and there
openly, in sight of them, embraced him, took
him about the neck and kissed him. Who,
well liking her most natural and dear daughterly
affection towards him, gave her his fatherly
blessing and many godly words of comfort be
sides. She was not able to say any words but
"Oh, my father! Oh, my father!" "Take
patience, Margaret," he said, "and do not
grieve ; God has willed it so. For many years
didst thou know the secret of my heart." From
whom after she was departed, like one that had
forgotten herself, being all ravished with the
entire love of her father, having respect neither
to herself nor to the press of people, suddenly
turned back, ran to him as before, and divers
times kissed him lovingly, till at last she was
fain to depart, the beholding whereof made those
present for very sorrow to weep and mourn.
"Going, they went and wept, casting their
seeds ; but coming, they shall come with joyful-
ness carrying their sheaves." — Ps. cxxv. 6, 7.
342
November 26
THE HOUSE OF ZACCHEUS
f Yen. MARMADUKE BOWES, L., 1585
A YORKSHIRE gentleman, believing in his heart
the Catholic faith, from fear of losing goods
and liberty he would at times conform and go
to the Protestant Church. Thus he led for
long a miserable life, inwardly a Catholic, yet
outwardly professing those very heresies which
his soul detested. Notwithstanding, however,
his schismatical dissembling, one grace he had,
he never would close his doors to a priest what
ever the cost might be, doubtless believing that
by such works of mercy he might himself find
in the end mercy at God's hands. And so it
proved. A young Catholic who had been
schoolmaster to his children apostatised under
torture, and became a fanatical informer bent
upon the destruction of Catholics. He then
accused Mr. Bowes of harbouring priests con
trary to the statute, and both Mr. Bowes and
his wife were imprisoned at York, but were
released under bond of reappearance. At the
next Assizes, on the evidence of the school
master alone, Mr. Bowes was condemned, and
in the three days before his execution he was
reconciled to the Church and suffered boldly,
professing his faith, and desiring that his
death might be accepted in some measure in
satisfaction for his profession of schism.
" This day is salvation come to this house." —
LUKE xix. 9.
343
November 27
WOLVES IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING
Ven. GEORGE ERRINGTON, L., AND
COMPANIONS, 1596
GEORGE ERRINGTON, Gentleman, William
Knight and William Gibson, Yeomen, were in
prison at York Castle for recusancy. Confined
there also, for some misdemeanour, was a Pro
testant minister, who, to reinstate himself in
the favour of his superiors, took the follow
ing treacherous course. He professed to the
Catholic prisoners his sincere repentance for his
previous life, and his desire of embracing the
Catholic faith. They believed him sincere, and
directed him when he was set free to Mr.
Abbott, a zealous convert, who endeavoured to
procure a priest to reconcile him, and took him
to Squire Stapelton's house for this purpose, but
in vain. The minister, having now evidence
enough to bring them within the law, accused
them to the magistrate, and thus displayed his
zeal for the Protestant religion. They were all
arraigned for high treason in persuading the
minister to be reconciled to the Church of
Rome. At the bar they confessed " that they
had, according to their capacity, explained to
the traitor the Catholic faith, but had used no
other persuasion." Upon this they were found
guilty, and suffered with joy, November 29.
"Beware of false prophets who come to you
in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves." — MATT. vii. 15.
344
November 2.8
THE MARTYRS' SHRINES
B. JAMES THOMPSON, Pr., 1582
BORN in or near York, he was a devout
Catholic, and was deprived of a pension which
he had, owing to his fidelity to the old religion.
With the desire of consecrating his life to God
he went over to Rheims in the summer of 1580,
but fell so ill that his life was despaired of. He,
however, begged Dr. Allen to allow him to be
ordained without delay, as he believed God in
tended to employ him on the English Mission.
A dispensation was therefore obtained from
Rome, and he received all the Sacred Orders
within twelve days, in May 1581, though he was
so ill that he could scarcely stand. He re
gained sufficient strength to proceed to England,
but was arrested in the city of York, August 1 1,
1 582, after scarcely a year's apostolate. He
confessed that he was a priest, and refused the
oath of Supremacy or to fight against the Pope.
He was led to the Castle prison in double
irons on November 25, was tried and con
demned, and on November 28 suffered at York
Tyburn. In her visits to his grave and that of
the other martyrs under the gallows, Margaret
Clitheroe found strength for her own passion.
" And she rendered to the just the wages of
their labours and conducted them in a wonder
ful way, and was to them for a covert by day
and for the light of the stars by night." —
WISDOM x. 17.
345
November 29
FIRST FRUITS
f B. CUTHBERT MAYNE, Pr., 1577
WHEN Protestant chaplain at St. John's Col
lege, Oxford, he was nearly arrested on account
of an intercepted letter from Douay urging him
to go there. After an interval of three years he
arrived there in 1573, and in 1576 was welcomed
as a priest in Mr. Tregian's house in Cornwall,
where he passed as his steward. On June 8,
1577, High Sheriff Stone surrounded the house
with some hundred men, and in seizing the
martyr struck his hand against something hard,
and asked him if he wore a coat of mail. On
tearing open his clothes an Agnus Dei was dis
covered hanging from his neck in a case of silver
and crystal. In his indictment the fourth article
charged him with having brought into the King
dom a vain and superstitious thing called an
Agnus Dei, blessed, as they say, by the Bishop
of Rome, and having delivered the same to Mr.
Francis Tregian. There was no proof in support
of any of the charges against him, but he was
nevertheless sentenced to death. After five
months' imprisonment amongst the lowest crimi
nals, he suffered at Launceston, November 29,
1 577. On the eve of his execution a bright light
filled his cell, as a harbinger of the Proto-
martyr of Douay on receiving his crown.
"The first fruits to God and the Lamb." —
APOC. xiv. 4.
346
November 30
SATAN THWARTED
t Ven. ALEXANDER CROWE, Pr., 1587
A BOOTMAKER in York, he became a servant at
the Seminary at Rheims, and for his virtues and
diligence was admitted as a student, and finally
ordained priest. He arrived on the English
Mission in 1584, and after nearly two years'
labour was arrested at South Duffteld, where he
had gone to baptize a child, and sentenced at
York. On the night before his execution he was
seen by a Catholic fellow-prisoner who shared
his cell to be wrestling as it were in agony with
some unseen foe, whilst he prayed continuously.
At length he broke out with joy into the " Lau-
date Dominum," and sank, exhausted on his
plank bed. He said he had been assailed by
the Evil One in a monstrous form, who assured
him that his soul was lost, and urged him to
take his life at once and not wait for the gallows.
He was in the greatest strait when Our Lady
and St. John the Evangelist appeared and put
Satan to flight. Yet on the gallows the Evil
One made a last final assault, and flung him off
the ladder. Though the fall was from a great
height, the martyr rose unhurt, and, smiling, re
mounted the ladder and won his crown, 1587.
"Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basi
lisk, and tread under foot the lion and the
dragon." — Ps. xc. 13.
347
December I
A SIGHT TO GOD AND MAN
f B. EDMUND CAMPION, S.J., 1581
IN the splash and mud of a wet December
morning, Campion was led forth from the Tower,
still in his old gown of Irish frieze. Undaunted
he saluted the vast crowd, saying, "God save
you all, gentlemen ! God bless you and make
you all good Catholics ! " After kneeling in
prayer he was strapped on the hurdle, Sherwin
and Briant being together bound on a second
hurdle. They were dragged at the horses' tails
through the gutter and filth, followed by an in
sulting crowd of ministers and rabble. Still
some Catholics were consoled by a word from
him, and one gentleman, like Veronica on
another Via Dolorosa, most courteously wiped
his face all spattered with mire and filth. Pass
ing under the arch of Newgate, whereon still
stood an image of Our Lady, Campion raised
himself and saluted the Queen of Heaven, whom
he hoped so soon to see. At the gallows he
began with a sweet firm voice, " Spectaculum
facti sumus Deo Angelis et hominibus," but the
Sheriffs interrupted him, and urged him to con
fess his treason. He repeatedly maintained his
innocence, and having declined to join in prayer
with the ministers, asked all Catholics for a
Credo for him in his agony, and while again pro
fessing his loyalty to the Queen he went to his
reward.
" We are made a spectacle to the world, to
angels and to men."— i COR. iv. 9.
343
December 2
KEEPER OF THE VINEYARD
B. JOHN BECHE, O.S.B., 1539
HE was Abbot of Colchester, and, like his
brethren of Glastonbury and Reading, took the
oath of Supremacy on it being tendered him in
1534 ; but he had a great devotion to Cardinal
Fisher and Sir Thomas More, and they stood
him in good cause at the end. When called
upon to surrender the Abbey, he refused, denied
the King's right to take it, and asserted his
loyalty to the Holy See, and for this speech he
was committed to the Tower. At his trial in
November 1534 he endeavoured to explain away
what he had said, re-asserted the King's supre
macy, and made a piteous appeal for mercy. But
however lamentable his defection, he atoned for
it fully by shedding his blood for the faith. He
was sent down to Colchester and tried there by
a special commission on the former charges.
He was condemned, and suffered at Colchester,
December i, 1539. On his pectoral cross, still
preserved, is inscribed : " May the Passion of
our Lord Jesus Christ bring us out of sorrow and
sadness. This sign of the Cross shall be in the
Heavens when our Lord shall come to judgment.
Behold, O man, the Redeemer suffered for thee.
He that will come after Me let him take up his
cross and follow Me."
" Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from
heaven and see and visit this vineyard . . . which
Thy right hand hath planted."— Ps. Ixxix. 15, 16.
349
December 3
THE CROSS AND THE CROWN
B. ALEXANDER BRIANT, S.J., 1581
WHEN he went to Westminster Hall to be con
demned he made a cross of such wood as he
could get, apparently a small wooden trencher,
and upon it he drew with charcoal a figure of our
Lord. This rough crucifix he carried with him
openly. He made shift also to shave his crown
because he would signify to the prating ministers
which scoffed and mocked him that he was not
ashamed of his Holy Orders, nor yet that he
would blush at his religion. When then the
ministers reproached him and bade him cast his
crucifix away, he answered : " Never will I do so,
for I am a soldier of the Cross, nor will I hence
forth desert this standard until death." Another
stretched forward and snatched the cross from
his hands, upon which he said : " You may tear
it from my hands, but you cannot take it from
my heart. Nay, I shall die for Him who first
died on it for me." On the scaffold, with his fair
and honest face beaming with joy, he expressed
his great happiness in being made worthy to
die for the faith, and in company with Edmund
Campion whom he heartily revered. As the
words of the Miserere were on his lips the cart
was drawn away.
" God forbid that I should glory save in the
Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified to me and I to the world." —
GAL. vi. 14.
350
December 4
PAINLESS TORMENT
B. ALEXANDER BRIANT, S.J., 1581
" WHETHER this that I say be miraculous or no,
God knoweth. But true it is, and thereof my
conscience is a witness before God. And this I
say that in the end of the tortures, though my
hands and feet were violently racked, and my
adversaries fulfilled their wicked lust in practising
their cruel tyranny on my body, yet notwith
standing, I was without sense or feeling, well-nigh
of grief and pain ; and not so only, but as it were
comforted, eased, and refreshed of grievousness
of the tortures bypast. I continued still with
perfect and present senses in quietness of heart
and tranquillity of mind; which thing, when the
commissioners did see, they departed, and in
going forth of the door they gave orders to rack
me again the next day following after the same
sort. Now when I heard them say so, it gave
me, in my mind, by-and-by, and I did verily be
lieve and trust that, with the help of God, I
should be able to bear and suffer it patiently.
In the meantime (as well as I could) I did muse
and meditate upon the most bitter Passion of our
Saviour, and how full of innumerable pains it was."
" For He woundeth and He cureth. He
striketh and His hands shall heal." — JOB v. 18.
351
December 5
BLOOD FOR BLOOD
f Ven. JOHN ALMOND, Pr., 1612
ON the scaffold he flung some seven or eight
pounds in silver, with his beads, his points, and
his discipline, for those to get them who would,
and gave to the hangman an angel, not to spare
him, but to treat him as he should. He had
come hither, he said, to shed his blood for his
Saviour's sake, who had shed His blood for
his sins. In which respect he wished that every
drop that he would shed might be a thousand ;
that he might have St. Lawrence's gridiron to be
broiled on, St. Peter's cross to be hanged on,
St. Stephen's stones to be stoned with, to be ript,
ript, ript, and ript again. Then, being in his
shirt, he kneeled down, and often repeating " In
manus tuas, Domine, &c." — " Into Thy hands,
O Lord, I commend my spirit " — he waited till
the hangman was ready without any sign of
fear; but, ever smiling, he protested he died
chaste, but not through his own ability or worthi
ness, but by Christ's special grace, and that he
ever hated those carnal sins, for which the
Catholic religion had been slandered. At last,
the cart was drawn away, and with the words
" Jesu, Jesu/' his soul flew to Him for whom he
Shed his blood, Tyburn, December 5, 1612.
" Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people
by His own blood, suffered without the Gate." —
HEB. xiii. 12.
352
December 6
FLORES MARTYRUM
Yen. JOHN ALMOND, Pr., 1612
ST. PHILIP'S zeal for the faith made him wish
to go to the Indies to shed his blood for his
Master, but as his Indies were to be in Rome he
had a great love for those who were granted the
privilege denied to himself. Thus when he met
the students of the English College he would
salute them with the words, "Salvete Flores,
Martyrum," and one by one the students used to
repair to St. Philip's room to receive the holy old
man's blessing before starting on their mission.
It is said that the only student who did not
receive St. Philip's blessing failed to win his
crown, and St. Philip's sons inherited his de
votion to the future martyrs. In 1602 Father
John Almond, a native of Allerton, near Liver
pool, as a student having completed his seven
years' course of philosophy and theology, made
his public disputation under the patronage of
Cardinal Baronius, and when it was over, that
man of holy memory, as though foreseeing the
still more glorious defence of the faith he was
going to make before English persecutors, em
braced him many times, and kissed his tonsure
and that blessed brow which was so soon to be en
circled with the martyr's crown. Cardinal Tarugi,
who was also present, paid him like homage.
"These were purchased from among men,
the first fruits of God and to the Lamb, and in
their mouth there was found no lie, for they are
without spot before the throne of God." — APOC.
xiv. 4, 5.
353 z
December 7
FAITH AND WORKS
Ven. JOHN ALMOND, Pr., 1612
AT the scaffold one of the preachers urged that
the Catholic Church taught that good works
justified faith. Almond answered that faith and
good works justified together. The minister
said that faith alone justified. He asked what
faith an infant could have ere he had the use
of reason ? The minister left that question and
reason and talked of something else. On the
scaffold, kneeling down, he humbly begged
God's mercy, not doubting that, many as his
sins were, Christ, by His death and the shed
ding of His blood, would remit and pardon, and
that He would now accept his willingness to
shed his blood for His greater glory. " What,"
said a minister, " can you match and compare
Christ's bloodshedding with yours? Cannot
Christ by Himself work your salvation ? " " You
mistake me," replied the martyr ; " my sins,
though venial, deserve Christ's wrath and punish
ment. It is His death alone, and the shedding
of His blood alone, that is not only efficient
but also sufficient to save us all. I have not
much more to say, one hour overtaketh another,
and though never so long at last cometh death,
and yet not death, for death is the gate of life
unto us, whereby we enter into life everlasting,
and life is death to those who do not provide for
death."
"Faith without works is death." — JAS. ii. 20.
354
December 8
THE SLEEP OF THE JUST
B. RALPH SHERWIN, Pr., 1581
A NATIVE of Rodesby, Derbyshire, as a fellow
of Exeter College, Oxford, he was accounted as
an acute philosopher and an excellent Greek
and Hebrew scholar. But grace called him to
yet higher distinction. He became a Catholic,
entered the English College, Rome, and returned
a priest to England in August 1580. After
some months5,, zealous work he was apprehended
while preaching in Mr. Roscarrock's house,
and imprisoned, first in the Marshalsea and then
in the Tower. He was there nearly a year, and
in divers conferences with ministers won the
admiration of his audience. After his first
racking he was set out in great snow, and Mr.
Roscarrock was kept in a dark corner hard by
to hear his pitiful groans. After his second
racking he lay five days and nights without food
and in silence. All this time he slept, as he
thought, before our Saviour on the Cross, and
on coming round found himself free from pain.
Tortures unavailing, the Bishops of Canterbury
and London offered him the second Bishopric
in England if he would but go to St. Paul's
Church. After B. Campion was executed, the
hangman took hold of Sherwin with his hand
all bloody to terrify him, but the martyr rever
ently kissed the martyr's blood, and then shed
his own, December i, 1581.
"When He shall give His beloved sleep."—
PS. cxxvi. 2.
355
December 9
MALCHUS' EAR
Ven. JOHN MASON, L., 1591
HE had been servant to Mr. Owen of Oxford
shire, who was condemned at the bar as an
aider and abettor of priests, and was himself
first indicted for knowing and not revealing a
seminary priest, but pleaded successfully that
the three days allowed for such denunciations
had not expired. He was then charged for
abetting a priest to escape. On Topcliffe trying
to enter the room where Father Genings was
saying Mass, Mason seized him and thrust him
downstairs, falling with him, and Topcliffe met
with a broken head. This much the young
man confessed. On this charge Mason was
condemned, and executed the morrow after.
Asked if he were not sorry for the fact, he re
plied, " No ; if it were to do again, I would resist
the wicked, that they should not have God's
priests, yea, although I were to be punished with
twenty deaths." There suffered with him a
fellow-servant, Robert Sydney Hodgson, who,
finding himself unpinioned, on the belief that he
had recanted, boldly declared that, although he
had asked Her Majesty's pardon, he would not
have the judge think that he would deny his
faith, for that he would rather die twenty times
first. They were suffered to hang till they were
dead, and together they won their crowns. —
Tyburn, December 10, 1591.
"And one of them that stood by, drawing a
sword, struck a servant of the High Priest, and
cut off his ear."— MARK xiv. 47.
356
December 10
THE SWEAT OF THE PASSION
f Ven. EUSTACE WHITE, Pr., 1591
HE was born at Louth, Lincolnshire, and his
conversion so much offended his father, an
earnest Protestant, that he laid his curse upon
him ; but God turned the curse to a blessing, and
Eustace White became a priest and entered on
the English Mission, October 1588. He was
apprehended at Blandford, and having confessed
himself a priest, a certain minister, one Dr.
Houel, a tall man, reputed of great learning, was
sent for to dispute with him, but was ignomi-
niously vanquished, as he failed to disprove a
certain text which White affirmed to be in the
Bible. At the Bridewell, London, he was once
hung by TopclifFe in iron manacles for eight
hours together ; but though the torment caused
the sweat from his body to wet the ground
beneath, nothing could be extracted from him
of the least prejudice to Catholics. Under the
extremity of his passion he cried out, " Lord,
more pain if Thou pleasest, and more patience."
To his torturer he said, " I am not angry at you
for all this, but shall pray to God for your welfare
and salvation." Topclifte replied in a passion
that he wanted not the prayers of heretics, and
would have him hung at the next session. Then
said the martyr, " I will pray for you at the
gallows, for you have great need of prayers."
He suffered at Tyburn, December 10, 1591.
"And His sweat became as drops of blood
running down to the ground." — LUKE xxii. 44.
357
December 1 1
THE OFFICE OF OUR LADY
f Ven. ARTHUR BELL, O.S.F., 1643
BORN of a good Catholic Worcestershire family,
he was educated first at St. Omer's, then at
Valladolid. He asked for admission into the
Order of St. Francis in the Province of the Im
maculate Conception, and took the habit at the
Convent of Segovia, August 9, 1618. He was
distinguished by a rare union of learning with a
sweet, joyous, and ardent temper, and an over
flowing sympathy with his fellow-creatures which
drew them like a magnet to his side. From his
earliest years he had a special devotion to Our
Blessed Lady. He bound himself by vow to
recite her office daily, and was in the habit of
saying it alternately in Latin, Hebrew, Greek,
Spanish, French, Flemish, and English. He
was successively Guardian of his Order and
Professor of Hebrew at Douay, first Provincial
in Scotland, and then laboured on the English
Mission. Our Lady's protection was manifested
throughout his life. He was professed on the
Feast of her Nativity, September 8, 1619. On
the same Feast, 1634, he was sent on the Eng
lish Mission, and his death sentence, for which
he had prayed her twenty years, and had recited
daily the Psalm xxxv., Dixit injustus, was pro
nounced on the Feast of her Immaculate Con
ception, 1643.
"Blessed is the man that heareth Me, and
that watcheth daily at My gates, and waiteth at
the posts of My doors."— PROV. viii. 34.
358
December 12
ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN
t Ven. THOMAS HOLLAND, S.J., 1642
BORN in Lancashire, he was educated at St.
Omer's, where he was repeatedly, on account of
his piety, elected prefect of the Sodality of Our
Blessed Lady. Thence he was sent to Valla-
dolid, and was chosen to make a Latin oration
at Madrid before Charles Prince of Wales
(Charles I), on occasion of a marriage then pro
posed with the Infanta Maria. Returning' to
Flanders, he entered the Society of Jesus, and
was sent on the English Mission to London,
1634. He was then in very bad health, and his
illness was increased by the close confinement
imposed upon him by the unremitting house-
searching of the pursuivants. Yet, notwith
standing the vigilance of his enemies and his
own infirmities, through the various disguises he
adopted, so as to be unrecognisable even by his
friends, his perfect knowledge of French, Fle
mish, and Spanish languages enabling him to
assume any character, he reaped during two
years' labour a rich harvest of souls. At length
in 1642 he was apprehended on suspicion and
sentenced. In prison his holy counsel and deep
spiritual wisdom sanctified the throngs, English
and foreign, who came for his last words. He
said Mass and administered the Sacraments up
to the day of his execution at Tyburn, Decem
ber 12, 1642.
" I became all things to all men that I might
save all."— i COR. ix. 22.
359
December 13
INVOCATION OF THE SAINTS
Ven. EDMUND GENINGS, Pr., 1591
HE was executed with Ven. Wells opposite the
latter's house in Gray's Inn, where he had said
Mass. On the scaffold, in answer to Topcliffe's
gibes, he professed his loyalty to his dear
anointed Queen, and declared that being a
priest and saying Mass in noways made him a
traitor. Of these things he acknowledged him
self guilty, and rejoiced in having done such
good deeds, and with God's help would do them
again at the risk of a thousand lives. Topcliffe,
angered at this speech, bade them turn the
ladder and cut the rope, so that the holy priest
stood scarcely stunned on his feet, till the hang
man tripped him up, and quartered him while
living. After he was dismembered he cried out
in agony, " It smarts ! " To which Mr. Wells
replied, " Alas, sweet soul, thy pain is great, but
almost past ; pray for me now, most holy Saint,
that mine may come." After Father Genings
was ripped up and his bowels cast into the fire,
the blessed martyr, his heart being in the exe
cutioner's hands, uttered these words, " Sancte
Gregori, ora pro me," at which the hangman
swore a most wicked oath : " Zounds, his heart
is in my hand, and yet Gregory is in his mouth.
O egregious Papist."
" And the smoke of the incense of the prayers
of the Saints ascended up before God by the
hand of an angel." — APOC. viii. 4.
360
December 14
THE FOOL'S ROBE
Yen. EDMUND GENINGS, Pr., 1591
ON December 4, 1591, Father Genings and his
companions were brought upon their trial, and a
jury was empanelled to find them all guilty, yet
nothing could any prove against them but that
one of them had said Mass in Mr. Well's house,
and that one of them had heard the said Mass.
Many bitter words and scoffs were used by the
judges and others on -the bench, particularly to
Father Genings, because he was very young and
had angered them with disputes. And the more
to make him a scoff to the people, they vested
him not now in his priestly garments (in which
they had before carried him through the streets),
but in a ridiculous fool's coat which they had
found in Mr. Well's house. On his return to
Newgate, Topcliffe, Justice Young, and others
called on him and offered him life, liberty, a
benefice, and promotion if he would go to church
and renounce his religion. But finding him
constant and resolute they were highly offended,
and thrust him into a dark hole, where he could
not even see his hands nor get up or down
without risk to his neck. Here he remained in
prayer and contemplation without any food till
the hour of his death.
" And Herod with his army set Him at nought
and mocked Him, putting on Him a white
garment, and sent Him back to Pilate." — LUKE
xxiii. ii.
December 15
NOT IN THE JUDGMENT HALL
Ven. EDMUND GENINGS, Pr., 1591
" THEN the Protestant Bishop of London began,
'You are greatly abused by those whom you
call your Superiors. Think now of my counsel,
which is to help yourselves, and to acknowledge
your fault and error ; then doubtless I dare
promise you from the Queen's Majesty sure
pardon. You miserable men do what in you is,
to kill yourselves, which is a damnable thing,
unless you now repent.5 On this Mr. Genings
began to smile, and said that, though young, he
thought he could answer the Bishop's allegation.
' Peace,' said the Bishop, ' I see you are all
wilful. Here I acquit myself before all this
audience, that I have given you sound counsel.
At the latter day, when you and I shall all stand
before the Judge, this my word now shall con
demn you,' and with that the old dissembler
wept, as it seemed, and wiped his eyes, trickling
down with tears, every one as big as a millstone.
' Almighty God pardon your obstinacy. I may
not stay to hear the just sentence of blood pro
nounced against you, because it is not according
to my profession ; ' which said, he presently
departed from the Bench. Many silly people
commended his great charity and tender heart,
as I heard them speak."
" And they went not into the hall, that they
might not be defiled, but that they might eat the
Pasch." — JOHN xviii. 28.
362
December 16
A MIGHTY HUNTER
Ven. SWITHIN WELLS, L., 1591
His father was renowned in Hampshire as a
confessor for the faith, and Swithin himself—
kindly, pleasant, courteous, generous, brave, a
leader in every kind of field and manly sport —
was an example of a Catholic country gentleman.
Much of his diversions he gave up, however, to
train youths in the faith and learning, who thus
became staunch Catholics. Apprehended and
condemned for having had Mass said in his
house, he was led out to die with his wife, sen
tenced for the same offence. She was however
remanded, and after ten years in Newgate of
fasting, watching, and prayer, she died in 1602.
On Swithin's way to the scaffold, which was
erected opposite his own door, meeting an old
friend he said : " Farewell all hawking and hunt
ing and old pastimes ; I am now going a better
way." The butchery of Father Genings be
fore his eyes only hastened his own desire to
die. " Despatch," said he ; " Mr. Topcliffe, des
patch ; are you not ashamed to let an old man
stand here so long in his shirt in the cold. I
pray God make you of a Saul a Paul, of a perse
cutor a Catholic professor." And in such-like
speeches, full of Christian charity, piety, and
courage, he happily ended his course, December
10, 1591.
" He began to be mighty on the earth, and he
was a stout hunter before the Lord."— GEN. x.
8, 9.
363
December 17
IN BONDS, BUT FREE
Ven. SWITHIN WELLS, L., 1591
" I HAVE been long in durance and endured
much, but the future reward makes pain seem
pleasure. And truly now the solitariness causes
me not grief, but rather joy, for thereby I can
better prepare myself for that happy end for
which I was created and placed here by God.
I am also sure that however few I see yet I am
not deserted, for ' whose companion is Christ is
never alone.' When I pray I talk with God ;
when I read He talketh to me. Thus, though I
am bound and chained with gyves, yet am I loose
and unbound towards God, and it is better, I
deem, to have the body bound than the soul in
bondage. I am threatened, Lord, with danger
of death ; but if it be no worse I will not wish
it better. God send me the grace, and then I
-weigh not what flesh and blood can do to me.
These answered many anxious and dangerous
questions, but I trust with good advisement, not
offending my conscience. What will become
of it God knows best, to whose protection I
commit you. From gaol and chains to the
Kingdom. Thine to life's end." — (Letter from
prison.)
" So then, brethren, we are not children of the
bondwoman, but of the free, by the freedom
whereby Christ has made us free." — GAL. iv. 31.
364
December 18
THE GOOD THIEF
Ven. JOHN ROBERTS, O.S.E., 1610
FINDING himself about to be hung in company
with eight traitors and criminals, he blessed
them and spoke : u Here we are all going to
die, nor have we any hope of escape ; but if you
die in that religion now professed and estab
lished in this country, without any doubt you
will be condemned to the eternal fire of Hell.
For the love then of our Blessed Saviour I
earnestly pray you to return from the evil path,
so that we may all die in one and the same true
faith, and to show this say with me the follow
ing words : ' I believe in the Holy Catholic
Church, and I desire to die a member of that
Church. I repent and am sorry for having led
so wicked a life, and that I have grievously
offended my sweet and merciful Saviour.' If
you say these words truly and from your hearts,
I will absolve you, and then my soul for yours."
At these words one of the poor wretches was so
affected that he burst into tears. The Father
then exhorted him specially and prayed silently
to God for him, then again spoke to him in
a low voice. In the end the poor creature
publicly professed that he died a Catholic.
"This day thou shalt be with Me in Para
dise."— LUKE xxiv. 43.
365
December 19
- THE LAST SUPPER
Ven. JOHN ROBERTS, O.S.B., 1610
LUISA DE CARVAJAL, a noble Spanish lady, came
to London to minister to Catholics suffering for
the faith. She visited the prisoners, stood by
the scaffold to cheer the dying, and buried the
dead — all this amid the hootings of the rabble
dogging her footsteps. On one occasion she
obtained leave to prepare a supper for Fathers
Roberts and Somers on the eve of their mar
tyrdom, and for their fellow-prisoners. The
feast is thus described : " They then sat down to
supper — twenty prisoners for conscience' sake,
twenty confessors of the faith — Luisa de Car-
vajal presiding at the head of the table. The
meal was a devout and a joyful one — heavenly
the refreshment ministered to the guests, great
the fervour and spiritual delight which our
Lord bestowed on His valiant soldiers, giving
them that peace which passeth all understand
ing. Scarcely any one thought of eating. In
the course of the evening Father Roberts asked
her, " Do you not think I may be causing dis-
edification by my great glee ? Would it not be
better to retire into a corner and give myself
up to prayer?" "No, certainly not," Luisa
answered. " You cannot be better employed
than by letting them all see with what cheerful
courage you are about to die for Christ."
" The Master saith to thee : Where is the
guest-chamber, where I may eat the Pasch with
My disciples?'3— LUKE xxii. n.
366
December 20
THE MISSION TO TEACH
Yen. JOHN ROBERTS, O.S.B., 1610
" I DO not deceive Her Majesty's subjects, but
try to lead back to the right path those poor
wandering souls whom you and your foolish and
ignorant ministers have led astray,, and infected
with a thousand deceits and heresies. If I
deceive, then were our ancestors deceived by
blessed Saint Augustine, the Apostle of the
English, who was sent here by the Pope of
Rome, St. Gregory the Great, and who converted
this country from error to the Christian and
Roman Catholic faith. This same faith which
he professed, I now teach. Nay, I am of the
same religious order, and have been professed
of the same rule as St. Augustine, and I am
sent here by the same Apostolic See that sent
him before me. I must speak as my mission
is from Heaven : ' Go ye and teach all nations,
baptizing them, and teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you '
(Matt, xxviii. 19). ' Your ministers do not teach
as Christ commands ; they do not administer
the Sacrament of Penance or of Extreme
Unction. I do, and withal I teach obedience
to princes as a matter of conscience, against
the false doctrine of Luther and his companions.
All this I can prove to you.' "
"Going, therefore, teach ye all nations." —
MATT, xxviii. 19.
367
December 21
PRIEST, NOT TRAITOR
Ven. JOHN ROBERTS, O.S.B., 1610
To the Protestant Bishop of London he said,
" Can you name a single instance of a Catholic
Bishop being seated, as you are, among secular
judges in a capital case? You would have done
much better to remain in your place, reproving
the dissolute conduct of your clergy, than to
come and sit on this Bench, while matters of
life and death are being decided. These twelve
men, who have to give a verdict in this case, are
ignorant persons, unable to discern or judge of the
difference between the priesthood and treason.
You strive to do an impossible thing when you
wish to make it appear that to be a priest is to
be a traitor. That would make Christ Himself
a traitor, and all His Apostles, St. Augustine
also, the Apostle of England, and all the priests
and bishops who have succeeded him to this day,
would also be esteemed traitors, and you would
condemn them if they were brought before you.
I therefore say that it is impossible that being
a priest should make me a traitor. If a priest
commit treason, I am not so ignorant as not to
know that the man is a traitor, but not by reason
of his being a priest, or in consequence of
exercising his priestly office."
"We have found this man perverting our
nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar,
and saying that he is Christ the King."-
LUKE xxiii, 2.
368
December 22
THE RIGHTS OF THE CHURCH
Yen. JOHN ROBERTS, O.S.B., 1610
"I ACKNOWLEDGED then, as I do now, that I
am a priest and a monk of the Holy Order of St.
Benedict, as were also SS. Augustine, Lawrence,
Paulinus, Mellitus, and Justus ; and as these
monks converted our country from unbelief, so
I have done what little I could to liberate it
from heresy. I leave it to you, Mr. Recorder,
and the rest of you to judge whether this is high
treason. But suppose I had really offended
against the State and were worthy of death,
I ought not even then to be judged by you, noi
by this Court, nor by these twelve men, they
not being men of my condition or quality, since
it has been Decreed by the Councils of the
Church and the Popes, the vicars of Christ on
earth, that priests should not be brought before
secular judges ; but if their crimes are great and
merit death, that they must be first examined
and found guilty by the ecclesiastical judges,
and be degraded by them, then they can be
handed over to the secular arm to be dealt with
as the laws of God and man decree. This
being the case, I do not see, Mr. Recorder,
that you are competent to pronounce sentence
against me."
" Concerning the ministers of the house of
this God, you have no authority to impose toll
or tribute or custom upon them." — I ESDRAS
vii. 24.
369 2 A
December 23
FREEMEN BORN
Ven. EDMUND GENINGS AND COMPANIONS,
1591
THEN the Lord Wray began saying, that many
things had been well urged against the priests
by them of the Bench ; as that they were men
who took part with Spaniards, who, by all like
lihood, would kill the Queen, if they possibly
could : " But I, at this present, am to pronounce
sentence against you, for that, against the statute
made in this behalf, you have been made priests
by authority from the See of Rome, and have
returned into this country to exercise your
priestly functions, as you term them, and have
confessed, wherefore you are found guilty of
high treason. And, therefore, you shall return
to the place from whence you came, and thence
be drawn," &c. Which words were no sooner
heard, but the catchpoles, who guarded the
prisoners at the bar, began every one to catch,
some a hat, some a cloak, others the ruffs and
handkerchiefs, which the condemned persons
had. When one of the priests exclaimed,
" Besides our priesthood, we are freemen born,
and yet in the sight of you, judges of the land,
we are thus despoiled and bared, even before
we be dead." On which Wray ordered their
hats and cloaks to be restored.
" The tribune also was afraid after he under
stood that Paul was a Roman citizen, and
because he had bound him." — ACTS xxii. 29.
370
December 24
A PRIEST'S EPITAPH AT DOUAY
f GEORGE MUSCOT, Pr., 1645
"AFTER labours beyond number endured in
England for the Catholic faith, with great profit
to souls, here resteth the very Reverend George
Muscot, an English priest. Having suffered the
miseries of a prison for above twenty years, he
was condemned to death for that faith. The
hurdle was waiting for him at the prison gate,
when, at the intercession of the Queen of Eng
land, he was reprieved. Promoted by the
Sovereign Pontiff to the Presidency of the Eng
lish College at Douay, by his government he
gave new life to its discipline, and in four years,
and in the hardest times, increased its temporal
estate by 20,000 florins. At length he himself
being increased in merit, reduced by sufferings
and infirmities, gave his poor body to the
earth, his rich soul to heaven, and the good
odour of his example to all priests. He died,
aged sixty-five, the fortieth year of his priest
hood, the fifth of his Presidency, on the Vigil of
the Nativity of our Lord. On that same day,
heretofore, he had been thrown into a filthy dun
geon amongst felons and kept there three days,
but his stay bore sweet fruit. Out of ten male
factors condemned to die, nine were reconciled
to the Catholic faith. May he rest in peace."
"He chose him out of all men living to offer
sacrifice to God, incense, and a good savour,
for a memorial to make reconciliation for His
people."— ECCLUS. xlv. 20.
December 25
THE BURNING BABE
Ven. ROBERT SOUTHWELL, SJ.
As I in hoary winter's night stood shivering in
the snow,
Surprised I was with sudden heat, which made
my heart to glow ;
And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire
was near,
A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air
appear ;
Who, scorched with excessive heat such floods
of tears did shed,
As though His floods should quench His flames
which with His tears were bred ;
" Alas ! " quoth He, " but newly born in fiery
heats I fry,
Yet none approach to warm their hearts, or feel
my fire, but I !
My faultless breast the furnace is ; the fuel
wounding thorns ;
Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke, the ashes
shames and scorns ;
The fuel Justice layeth on, and Mercy blows the
coals,
The metal in this furnace wrought are men's
defiled souls ;
For which, as now on fire I am to work them to
their good,
So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my
blood."
With this He vanished out of sight and swiftly
shrank away,
And straight I called unto mind that it was
Christmas Day.
372
December 26
FIT FOR WAR AND COMELY
B. ALEXANDER BRIANT, SJ., 1581
FATHER PERSONS, being regarded as a most
active and dangerous leader of Catholics, was
ever an object of the pursuivant's search, but
though they never succeeded in his capture,
many richer prizes were secured in his stead.
Amongst- these was taken, in the house adjoin
ing Persons' London lodgings, a young man,
some twenty-seven years of age, of exceeding
gentle manners and a countenance of striking
beauty, by name Alexander Briant. After
three years at Baliol and Hart Hall, Oxford, he
was reconciled and entered Douay, and on
August 3, 1579, started as a priest on the
English Mission. He laboured first in his own
county, Somersetshire, where he reconciled
Persons' father to the Church, and thence re
paired to London and took lodgings next to
Persons, his closest and dearest friend. On
his arrest, April 28, 1581, he was confined in
the Counter, and in that revolting prison, in
order to extract from him Persons' whereabouts,
was for two days and nights entirely deprived
of food and drink. He then contrived to get
some hard cheese and broken bread with a pint
of beer, but this caused an agonising thirst.
After six days in the Counter nothing had been
gained from him, and sharper methods were
resolved on.
"With thy comeliness and beauty set out,
proceed prosperously and reign." — Ps. xliv. 5.
373
December 27
BLACK BUT BEAUTIFUL
B. ALEXANDER BRIANT, S.J., 1581
AFTER almost dying of thirst at the Counter,
he was transferred to the Tower, with directions
to Norton, the rack-master, to put him to the
tortures to wring from him by the pain and
terror thereof the knowledge of such things as
shall appertain. As he would neither confess
where he had seen F. Persons, how he was
maintained, where he had said Mass, or whose
confessions he had heard, needles were thrust
under his nails — the torture of pricking often
applied to witches. He bore them all un
moved, and with a constant mind and pleasant
countenance said the Psalm Miserere, desir
ing God to forgive his tormentors. Whereat
Dr. Hammond stamped and stared as if beside
himself, saying, " What a thing is this !
If a man were not settled in his religion,
this were enough to convert him.'3 He was
now removed into a pit twenty feet deep
without light, whence after eight days he was
drawn out and taken to the rack chamber.
There he was rent and torn upon the rack till
his body was disjointed, and the next day,
though his body was one sore, his senses dead,
and his blood congealed, he was brought to the
torture again and racked yet more severely ; but
he resolved to die rather than hurt any living
creature by word of his.
" They have dug my hands and feet, they
have numbered all my bones." — Ps. xxi. 17.
374
December 28
GRAVEN IN GOD'S HANDS
B. RALPH SHERWIN, Pr., 1581
" TRUTH it is, I hoped ere this, casting off this
body of death, to have kissed the glorified
wounds of my sweet Saviour, sitting in the
throne of His Father's own glory, which desire
hath so quieted my mind that neither the
sharpness of death hath much terrified me
nor the shortness of life much troubled me. My
sins are great, I confess, but I flee to God's
mercy : my negligences are without number, I
grant, but I appeal to my Redeemer's clemency:
I have no boldness but in His blood ; His bitter
passion is my only consolation. It is comfortable
that the prophet hath recorded that ' He hath
written us in His hands.' Oh ! that He would
vouchsafe to write Himself in our hearts ; how
joyful would we then appear before the tribunal
seat of His Father's glory : the dignity whereof,
when I think of, my flesh quaketh, not sustain
ing, by reason of mortal infirmity, the presence
of my Creator's majesty. Our Lord perfect us
to that end whereunto we were created, that,
leaving this world, we may live in Him, and of
Him, world without end. It is thought that,
upon Monday or Tuesday next, we shall be
passible : God grant us humility that we,
following His. footsteps, may obtain the victory."
" Behold, I have graven thee in my hands : thy
walls are always before my eyes." — ISA. xlix. 16.
375
December 29
THE WITNESS OF A GOOD
CONSCIENCE
f Ven. WILLIAM, Viscount STAFFORD, 1680
THE second son of Thomas, Earl of Arundel, and
uncle to Thomas and Henry, Dukes of Norfolk,
he married Mary, heiress to Henry, Lord Staf
ford, and succeeded to her title. During the
Civil War he suffered much for his loyalty to
the King, but always bore himself with the
courage and constancy proper to his birth, his
loyalty, and his faith. After the Restoration he
lived in peace and happiness with his wife and
children till his sixty-sixth year, when he was
accused by Gates as being a party to the plot.
Although he heard of the impending charge,
knowing his own innocency, he made no change
in his manner of life, and so was arrested. After
two years in the Tower he was brought on his
trial before the House of Peers. For four days
the prosecuting lawyers assailed him, yet by
the mere force of his integrity he exposed the
falsehood of his accusers. Nevertheless he was
condemned by fifty-five peers against thirty-one.
He was recommended to put on his cloak on
his way to the scaffold, to which he assented,
" Lest," he said, " I shake from cold, but never
from fear." So proceeding he won his crown.
"For our glory is this, the testimony of our
conscience, that in simplicity of heart and not
in carnal wisdom we have converted in this
world." — 2 COR. i. 12.
376
December 30
A PERSECUTOR, PENITENT
Ven. JOHN ALMOND, Pr., 1612
DR. KING, Protestant Bishop of London, the
supposed principal agent in Almond's death,
instead of reaping any joy from the execution
of this good priest, is said to have been ever
after a man of sorrows, and to have died in
communion with the Church which he had thus
cruelly persecuted. In the preface of a book,
published in his name after his death, and
called, "The Bishop of London's Legacy," he
is introduced thus addressing himself to our
martyr : " O happy Almond, in thy blood, even
in thy blood, did I wash my hands : it was I
that did further thy death. Be thou, O blessed
saint, who now seest and hearest me (Quid non
videt, qui videntem omnia videt ? What does
he not see, who sees Him that sees all things ?),
be thou, I say, out of thy seraphical charity, as
propitious to pray for the remitting of that
crying sin as I am ready to acknowledge the
sin ; and let thy blood (guilty of no other
treason than in not being a traitor to Christ
and His Church), not resemble the blood of
Abel, which cried for revenge against his brother,
but rather the blood of Christ, which prayed for
pardon of His crucifiers."
" I have sinned in betraying innocent blood."
— MATT, xxvii. 4.
377
December 31
SORROW TO LIFE
f Bishop OGLETHORPE, CARLISLE, 1559
THE Archbishop of York, whose office it was
to crown Elizabeth (the Metropolitan being
dead), declined to do so, and Bishop Oglethorpe
at length performed the ceremony in the most
solemn manner. Elizabeth then took the usual
oath of Christian princes prescribed by tradi
tion and law to defend the Catholic .faith and
to guard the rights and immunities of the
Church, hoping thus to secure unquestioned her
possession of the throne ; but throughout the
function she displayed her contempt of the
faith. At the anointing she expressed her ab
horrence in her own choice language, saying,
" The oil is stinking." At the Mass she forbade
the Bishop to elevate the Host, and on his re
fusal to obey her command, her chaplain per
formed a mutilated rite. Although the Bishop
had only crowned Elizabeth in the hope of thus
preventing an open schism, when he saw the
ruin she brought on religion he never ceased
to bewail his act. He defended the faith boldly
in the Westminster Conference, and was fined
in consequence by the Council. In spite of
threats and promises, he refused to take the
oath of Supremacy, and was deposed, and after
months of physical suffering and heart-broken
contrition, he died in prison in charge ofGrindal,
the Protestant Bishop of London, December 31.
" Lord, my desire is before Thee and my
groaning is not hid from Thee. For in Thee,
O Lord, have I hoped." — Ps. xxxvii. 10, 16.
378
INDEX OF NAMES
Abel, B. Thomas, 224,
259, 260
Allen, Cardinal, 302, 303,
304
Almond, Yen. John, 330,
352. 353. 354. 377
Anderton, Ven. Robert,
128, 132, 133
Arrowsmith, Ven. Ed
mund, 253, 272, 275,
277, 278
Aske, Sir Robert, 22
Atkinson, Ven. Thomas,
83
B
Baker, Ven. Charles, 250
Bamber, Ven. Edward,
227, 232
Barkwcrth.Ven. Mark, 70
Barlow, Ven. Edward,
262, 270-273
Bayne, Bishop, 334
Beche, B. John, 349
Belchiam, Ven. Thomas,
228
Bell, Ven. Arthur, 40, 358
Bell, Ven. James, 123
Bird, Ven. James, 77
Blundell, W. (Poet), 13,
14, 117, 118
Blundell, W. (The Cava
lier), 157, 158, 170
Bodey , Ven. John , 3 19 , 320
Bonner, Bishop, 261, 293
Bost, Ven. John, 218, 220
Bourne, Bishop, 266
Bowes, Ven. Marmaduke,
343
Briant, B. Alexander, 313,
314, 348, 35°. 351. 373.
Brookby, Ven. Antony,
213
Buckley, Ven. John, 206
Bullaker, Ven. Thomas,
297, 298-301
Cadwallador, Ven. Roger,
243, 252, 286
Campion, B. Edmund,
28-32, 163, 167, 290,
306, 329, 335, 336, 338,
348, 35°. 355
INDEX OF NAMES
Catherine of Aragon,
Queen, 151, 155
Clement, Margaret, 191
Clitheroe, B. Margaret,
97. 98, 99. 167, 345
Colman, Father, 74
Corby, Ven. Ralph, 264,
265, 276
Cornelius, Ven. John, 198,
321, 323
Cottam, B. Thomas, 140,
141, 160
Crowe, Ven. Alexander,
347
Dalby, Ven. Robert, 88
Davies, Ven. William, 212,
2I5
Derwentwater, James Earl
of, 67
Dibdale, Ven. Richard,
294
Dicconson, Ven. Roger,
20 1
Drury, Robert (S. J.), 322
Drury, Ven. Robert, 69
Duckett, Ven. James, 122
Duckett, Ven. John, 263,
264, 265, 276
Dymoke, Robert, 267
Eleven Marian Bishops,
20
Errington, Ven. George,
344
Evans, Ven. Philip, 216
Exmew, B. William, 183
380
Farringdon, B. Hugh, 331
Feckenham, Abbot, 15,
17
Felton, B. John, 233
Felton, Ven. Thomas, 256
Fenn, Ven. James, 56,
Filbie, B. William, 163
Fisher, B. John, 27, 51,
52, 53, 72, 126, 127,
186-190, 209
Five Jesuit Martyrs, 179
Ford, B. Thomas, 159,
161, 163
Forest, B. John, 146, 147,
155, 259, 260, 325
Fortescue, B. Adrian, 202,
268, 269
Garlick, Ven. Nicholas,
217
Garnet, Henry (S. J.), 136
Genings, Ven. Edmund,
247. 324. S6^. 36i, 362,
363- 370
Genings, Father John, 18
Gervase, Ven. George,
114, 115
Gilbert, George (S. J.), 292
Goldwell, Bishop, 107
Goodman, Ven. John, 257
Gray, Father John, 169
Green, Ven. Hugh, 239,
240, 241, 244
Green, Ven. John, 257
Grissold, B. Robert, "211
Grove, Ven. John, 36
INDEX OF NAMES
H
J
Haile, B. John, 137
Hambley, Ven. John, 96
Jessop, John, 94
Johnson, B. Robert, 153
Hanse, B. Everard, 225,
280
K
Harcourt, B. William,
173, 179
Kemble, Ven. John, 248
Hart, B. William, 80, 81,
Kirby, B. Luke, 149, 164
82, 84, 85, 87, 89, 100,
IOI, IO2, 103, 295
Hartley, Ven. William,
L
291
Lacy, B. William, 247,
Haydock, Ven. George,
54. 55. 58
295
Langhorne, Ven. Richard,
Heath, Archbishop, 106
208
Heath, Ven. Henry, 78,
Larke, B. John, 79
92, 103, 112, 113, 119,
Lawrence, B. Robert, 138
120, 121, 315, 317
Line, Ven. Anne, 71, 131
Herst, Ven. Richard, 254,
274, 275
Lloyd, Ven. William, 26
Lcckwood, Ven. John, 116
Hewett, Ven. John, 76
Ludlam, Ven. Robert, 217
Holford, B. Thomas, 242
Holland, Ven. Thomas,
M
359
Horner, Ven. Nicholas,
Marsden, Ven. William,
65,76
128, 132
Houghton, B. John, 135,
Mason, Ven. John, 356
138
Maxfield, Ven. Thomas,
Howard, Ven. Philip, 305,
197
306, 307
Maxwell, Ven. Thomas,
Humphrey, B. Lawrence,
104
37
Mayne, B. Cuthbert, 50,
Hutton, Mary, 150
346
Middlemore, B. Humph
I
rey, 183
Milner, Ven. Ralph, 201,
Ingleby, Ven. Francis, 170
Ingram, Ven. John, 219,
220
203, 205
More, B. Thomas, 38, 62,
63, 68, 75, 79. 86, 165,
Ireland, Ven. William, 36
172, 190, I9L 200, 204,
38)
INDEX OF NAMES
209, 258, 288, 337, 341,
342
Morgan, Ven. Edward,
129
Morse, Ven. Henry, 44,
45. 59, 60
Munden, Ven. John, 58
Muscot, George, Father,
37i
N
Nappier, Ven. George,
326, 327
Nelson, B. John, 46, 47,
48
Newdigate, B. Sebastian,
183
Newport, B. Richard, 143
Nichols, Ven. George, 199
Nutter, Ven. John, 57, 58
Oglethorpe, Bishop, 378
Oldcorne, Ven. Edward,
in, 136
Osbaldestone, Ven. Ed
ward, 333
Page, Ven. Francis, 130,
131
Payne, B. John, 105
Palasor, Ven. Thomas,
234
Pate, Bishop, 340
Pattenson, Ven. William,
34
Percy, B. Thomas, 237,
238, 245, 246
382
Percy, Sir Thomas, 23
Peto, Father, 43
Pibush, Ven. John, 61
Pickering, B, Thomas, 142
Pikes, Ven. William, 95
Pilchard, Ven. Thomas,
93
Pius, S., letter of, 236
Plessington, Ven. William,
214
Plumtree, B. Thomas, 16
Plunket, Ven. Oliver, 195,
281, 282
Pole, B. Margaret, 151
Poole, Bishop, 168
Postgate, Ven. Nicholas,
229, 230
Pounde, Thomas (S. J.),
21
Powel, B. Edward, 325
Powel, Ven. Philip, 194,
289
Powell, Margaret, 49
Reynolds, Ven. Thomas,
Reynolds, B. Richard,
134, 139
Richardson, B. Lawrence,
156
Rigby, B. John, 178, 185
Roberts, Ven. John, 365-
369
Robinson, Ven. John, 287
Rochester, B. John, 144
Roe, Ven. Bartholomew,
Rowsam, Ven. Stephen,
73
INDEX OF NAMES
Scot, Ven. William, 143,
T54
Scott, Ven. Monford, 196
Shert, B. John, 159
Sherwin, B. Ralph, 42,
348, 355. 375
Sherwood, B. Thomas, 50
Slade, Ven. John, 316
Southwell, Ven. Robert,
64, 65, 66, 176, 193,
308-311, 318, 339, 372
Southworth, Ven. John,
180, 181, 182, 192
Spenser, Ven. William,
285
Stafford, Viscount, 376
Stone, B. John, 145
Storey, B. John, 165, 166
Stransham, Ven. Edward,
41
Sugar, Ven. John, 210,
211
Sutton, Ven. Robert, 221
Swallowell, Ven. George,
220
Sympson, Ven, Richard,
217
Thirkell, B. Richard, 148,
162, 171, 295, 296, 312
Thirlby, Bishop, 251
Thomas, John, 226
Thompson, B. James, 295
Thulis, Ven. John, 90
Tichborne, Ven. Thomas
124
Tunstall, Bishop, 337
Tunstal, Ven. Thomas,
207
Turner, Ven. Antony, 179
W
Wall, Ven: John, 249, 279
Walpole, Ven. Henry, 108,
109, no
Wai worth, B. John, 144
Ward, Ven. William, 222,
223, 298
Ward, Ven. Margaret, 255
Waterson, Ven. Edward,
19
Watkinson, Ven. Robert,
125
Watson, Bishop, 283
Webster, B. Augustine,
138
Wells, Ven. Swithin, 360,
361, 363. 364
Whitaker, Ven. Thomas,
227
White, Bishop, 24, 25
White, Ven. Eustace, 357
Whitebread.Ven. Thomas,
174, 175, 179, 184
Whiting, B. Richard, 332
Woodcock, Ven. John,
231, 235, 284
| Woodfen, Ven. Nicholas,
\ VVoodhouse, B. Thomas,
177
Wrenno, Ven. Roger, 90,
Wright, Peter (S.J.).Ven.,
152, 328
; Yaxley, Ven. Richard, 199
333
INDEX OF SUBJECTS
Abbeys, suppressed: West
minster, 15; Reading,
Bi ; Glastonbury, 332 ;
)lchester, 349
Absolved from afar, 239
Abstinence, the Friday,
246; Lent, 278
Achab, punishment of, 43
Age, old, dignity of, 248 ;
fruitful, 116
Angel, the guardian, 96
Authority of Pope or
Queen, 32, 115
B
Babe, the burning, 372
Balaam's ass, 16
Blackfriars collapse, 322
Bonds for Christ, 80, 81 ;
loosened, 33 ; chains
falling off, 83
Books, good, 122
Brethren, false, 105, 218,
330 c
Calumny, patience under,
156 281
Cardinal's hat, the, 72
Challenge refused, a, 158
Champion, of the Pope,
233 ; of England, 267
Chancellor, Lord, mendi
cant, a, 86
Cheerfulness in dying, 122,
142
Church, notes of, 241;
unity of, 288 ; rights of,
369
Cloister, a violated, 144
Compromise, no, 209
Confession, seal of, 136,
a public, 232
Conscience, a puritan's,
180; good, 376
Contrition, 88, 330, 378
Controversy, 148, 161, 164,
210, 214, 288
Cross, love of the, 163;
image of, 297; cross
and the crown, 350
D
Death, cheerfulness in,
122,142; image of, 318;
learning to die, 74 ;
385 2 B
INDEX OF SUBJECTS
pressed to, 99 ; readi
ness for, 216 ; shadow
of, 61, 62; waiting for,
224, 259
Depression, 130
Discipline, the, 75, 198
Ease, Little, 256
Easter offering, the 262
End and Means, 173
Enemies, forgiveness of,
1 60
England, apostate, 304;
champion of ,267 ; prayer
for, 120
F
Faith, the oldest, 26;
grounds for, 44 ; and
loyalty, 69, 325 ; and
works, 354 ; more pre
cious than life, 67
Fear, holy, 140 ; natural,
overcome, 227
Fetters unloosed, 83, 185 ;
wisdom learnt in, 312
Filial reverence, 77, 101,
102, 103, 308, 309, 310,
3n. 342
G
Gall to drink, 47
Ghost, Holy, Mass of, 138
Grave, a Catholic's, 94
Gregory, S. , devotion to,
H
Hair shirt, 41, 75, 141, 198,
204, 217
Heart, a burning, 223
Heaven, glimpse of, 91 ;
our home, 311
Heresy, Divine vengeance
on, 40; hatred of, 25;
heretical services, 303
Heretics, charges of, 68
Honey from the rock, 65
Hungry, feeding the, 191
Hunter, a mighty, 363
Hypocrite, a royal, 55
J
Jerome, S., devotion to,
Jesus, dulcismemoria, 103;
looking on, 182
Joan, Pope, 133
Judge, bleeding hands of,
338 ; the one, 70, 310,
329
K
Knighthood, conversion
by, 21
L
Lady, Our B., 78, 92,
113, 172 ; office of, 358
Lapsed, the repentant, 123,
261, 337, 340
Last things, the four, 240
Law, practice of, 35
Learning to die, 74
Life, the hidden, 229, 230,
263; a hunted, 242
Loreto, holy house of, 247
M
Malchus, ear of, 356
Mara, Waters of, 319
Martyrdom, fruit of, 95
386
INDEX OF SUBJECTS
219 ; privileges of, 200 ;
in will, 201; zeal for,
211, 249; pledge of
salvation, 252; thirst
for, 317
Martyrs, shrines of, 345 ;
Flores Martyrum, 353
Mass, of thanksgiving, 45 ;
arrested at, 49 ; daily,
75 ; and martyrdom,
162 ; High Mass Dur
ham Cathedral, 238 ;
Last Gloria, 299; for
the dead, 321 ; the last,
326
Ministers, tormenting, 114;
wolves in sheep's cloth
ing, 344
Missioner, motives of, 89
Mother's sacrifice, a, 291
N
Needles, torture of, 374
Nun, letter to, 112, 323
Gates, plot of, 36, 142,
175, 184, 199, 208
Penal Laws, boon of, 170
Penitent and martyr, 88
People, voice of the, 316
Perjury, victims of, 36
Persecutor and penitent,
377
Perseverance, 235, 260
Piety, filial, 100, 101, 102
Pilgrimage of Grace, 22,
23
387
Plague-stricken, devotion
to, 59
Plot, Gates', see Gates
Poison detected, 234
Poor, charity to the, 59
Pope, England's debt to,
82 ; champion of, 233
Possessed, Our Lady of
Ipswich, 172
" Possum us," 174
Poverty, 86, 121, 293
Prayer in suffering, 29 ;
with tears, 51 ; in Latin,
J53I without ceasing,
196 ; for the dead, 275
Preaching, power of, 16,
228; commission to, 181,
367
Priests, harrowing, 71 ;
devotion to, 124, 255 ;
dignity of, 167 ; a priest
in need, 22 ; the eternal
priesthood, 243 ; no
priest no religion, 214 ;
Romans the only priests,
275 ; not traitors, 368
Princes, no trust in, 55, 183
Protestant services, 256
Puritan, conscience of a,
180
R
Reformer, a talk with a, 42
Relics, devotion to, 150
Reparation, 165, 166, 217,
226
S
Sacraments, devotion to,
27 ; Blessed Sacrament,
48, 169, 300; undis
covered, 327
INDEX OF SUBJECTS
Scandal, avoidance of,
106
Scavenger's daughter, 164
Scruples cured, 34
Shod for the Gospel,
225
Silver, thirty pieces of,
245
Simplicity, 177, 178
Sinners, a friend of, 56;
patience with, 57, 61 ;
zeal for, 368
Sleep, a martyr's, 189 ; of
the just, 355
Solitude, with God, 341
Sorrow, forbidden, 48;
turned to joy, 54
Stand fast, 85
Stones of Israel, 52
Supper, the Last, 366
Time, and Eternity, 258
Torment, painless, 351
Tradition, witness of, 134
Trust, true to a, 50
Tyburn in Gala, 197
Vestments of salvation, 80
Visions, Heavenly, 73, 320
Voices, Heavenly, 221
W
Winefride, S. , devotion to,
TI2
Z
Zaccheus, house of, 342
THE END
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